In our Take the Lead series, we asked leaders from various fields to share their insights on what they’ve learned and what’s next.
The birth of creative directors Flea Richardson and Phil Cho’s partnership rested above all on their shared beliefs. 2018, Founder Mr. Zhao knowledge productionspitched a collaboration between his company and Richardson’s creative agency compound.
“When I go to Slide 2, he says, ‘Turn it off,'” Cho recalled recently. “He’s like, ‘Do you love God?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah. I’m a believer,'” he says. I’m glad. ‘”
Of course, it wasn’t just spirituality that brought them together. Mr. Richardson was also impressed by the effort Mr. Cho showed in documenting the event through photographs and videos in his Gallery of Art at the Compound. “There’s something special about Phil,” Richardson said recently. “You can feel the good presence of energy.”
Both companies are now big powers in the marketing world, especially at the intersection of sports and hip-hop. Together, they created his portfolio of impressive campaigns for brands such as shoe company Clarks, ESPN, software company Niantic, and DraftKings. Last year, the two won three Cannes Lions Advertising Awards for his inspirational marketing campaigns, and five Muse Creative Awards for him.they won last month 12 Clio Awardsgiven for advertising creativity.
Richardson, 50, also known as Set Free, is African-American and was born in the Bronx. He grew up in Queens and Philadelphia and was deeply involved in the world of hip hop his community and street basketball his culture. In 1998 he AND1 mixtape toura traveling basketball tournament, and in 2007, he founded Compound.
Richardson’s story has shaped and inspired many, including Cho.
Born and raised in Edison, New Jersey, 33-year-old Cho is Korean-American and grew up with a passion for both basketball and hip-hop music. He was in middle school when the AND1 Mixtape Tour debuted. (“Some Korean moms will know he’s AND1,” Cho said of the tour’s range.) Since starting his NoLedge at age 26, he’s been a Toyota record label 300 entertainment Akon and year of the ox.
Today, Richardson and Cho are innovators in the crowded world of creative marketing, and, as Richardson puts it, “overcoming the invisible handcuffs of corporate dominance,” they consider themselves family. I think.
Ari Weiss, chief creative officer at advertising agency DDB Worldwide, said in an email. But “either you are real or you are not. Mr. Free Richardson and Mr. Phil Cho are purely real.”
The two sat down at Compound’s headquarters in Brooklyn to discuss staying authentic and relevant in their craft and the faith they share. Conversations have been edited and condensed.
How do you stay up to date?
Free Richardson I think it always comes back to being authentic and being storytelling. Everyone has a story and we can tell it through AI, photography, music and all the creative elements. look at NFTs [nonfungible token] world. It came and it didn’t go away, but all along I was going to continue to use art that I could still touch and feel. Internal reliability. look at the tree The leaves die before the roots of the tree die. Much has happened and will continue to happen with technology, but I don’t know of anything bigger than the Mona Lisa. No matter what happens to technology, the source of your creativity will always be with you.
Phil Cho Our roots are always human relationships. You’ll see all this artwork when you step into the compound. Johnny Cheatwoodand you can see how long it took them to come up with these ideas and they weren’t AI-generated.I feel that’s what creates more value.
Richardson Yeah I think it’s a lot of relationships. that’s all. Two things in life are communication and relationships. You can’t build a relationship if you don’t communicate. Creativity is a revolving door. I still work with people I worked with 20 years ago. That’s why I still listen to Fleetwood Mac and Marvin Gaye on the same rotation as Drake. So when things are real and true, creativity never runs out.
How do you navigate the challenges and opportunities facing the advertising industry?
Richardson I think the ratio of African Americans to Asians is very small. Not to blame it all on race, but in the world of advertising agencies, especially Fortune 500 companies, C-suite level, and businesses, especially small businesses. [According to a 2022 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, of workers in “advertising, public relations, and related services,” 7.8 percent were African American and 6.6 percent were Asian American.] We are a small, SWAT style small boutique.
I think it’s compound and knowledge. It’s a strategic partnership that does some of the same things big advertising agencies do, but without the red tape.
Cho Before doing compounding, I had no one to teach me how to proceed with production, so I thought I had to learn through trial and error. And a lot of the people I meet happen to be white. Again, I’m not trying to be racial about it, but I felt like I was doing this with my skin tone and not many people were there to help me. , I think it was a whole new world for me to be confident in what I was doing and trying to figure it out, even merging with compounds.
What lessons have you learned from your staff, team, and colleagues?
Richardson After all, everyone makes mistakes. And I myself look people in the eye and think, “We are all the same.” I think learning and working with NoLedge will take time. We all need time to do tasks, learn, communicate, and talk. Respect time, respect people, and give time. It’s not just a place they or clients want to go to, but everyone needs time.
Cho For those at NoLedge, patience for me. I would like to say that, but it is difficult to put into practice. You may be able to do X,Y,Z and you want your subordinate to do the same, but they also understand that first he needs to learn X,Y,Z is needed. So you can’t expect people to move the way you move.
How can I make my campaigns authentic and meaningful?
Richardson I’m going to give everyone my own white box. When you go to see an apartment, you can see it empty and dream about how it will be decorated and designed. block you You can’t put your ideas there. will do.
My job after that is to put a magnifying glass on your ideas. You are there to help brands, not put your ideas on their brands. And doing so always helps expand on what the goal is. The goal is to get my ideas hooked on your ideas and make them bigger.
Cho I really feel like Flea sets his own trends. For me, the better creative director you are, the less you care about what other people think of you, and that gives me confidence. What you get when you do Do what we think is dope.
What are the partnership challenges?
Richardson time. You can’t do everything you want. That means you have to understand what you’re trying to do with your partnership. It’s like marriage. Phil, I love him. He is my brother, cousin and son. Also, he is my uncle. I had to respect him in certain areas.
Cho It’s always communication. People have different workflows. Mine is not exactly the same as the free one. But I think the reason this works is because so many young people want to move ships, right? But at the same time, great leaders are also great followers. I feel like I’ve been immersed in the game for the last few years. Just like Flea was talking about clients and how we support their vision. I’m doing something similar with Free. I support his vision.
How do you stay inspired?
Richardson God. I want the world to understand that. he is the creator of everything. If the thought of it doesn’t inspire him, he doesn’t know what else will inspire him. God is the source of my creativity.
Cho Agree. All the stories in this world from different people and backgrounds – he is the greatest artist.
