‘We want a Patek Philippe!’.

I’m told intermediaries hear that phrase on a regular basis.

The problem is, most ad agencies can’t do it.

Most are unable translate the signals and nuances of the world’s of premium and fashion.

It’s why the majority of advertising in those categories is produced in-house.

But that’s not perfect either, they may capture the right vibes but they rarely create anything with substance.

They rarely position a brand or create long-term adverting campaigns.

Much of it being indistinguishable from the editorial that surrounds it.

One agency has operated in the sweet spot between the two; Leagas Delaney.

Over the last forty odd years, they’ve produced long running campaigns for everyone from Harvey Nicholls to Porsche, from Garrards to Pictet, from Dom Perrignon to Harrods.

Patek Phillipe is a perfect example.

The advertising has the right look and feel, which is gently evolved year on year, but for the last 27 years it’s been based on a single thought; ‘You never own a Patek Phillippe, you merely look after it for the next generation’.

It’s why people now ask for a Patek Philippe – they want a property that lasts.

So I thought I’d ask Tim how he goes about creating a long-term campaign for a premium brand.

Rather than a scattershot of brands I thought it would be more helpful to focus on the detail of one, I chose Harrods.

Full disclosure: I used to work on Harrods at Leagas Delaney back in the 90s.

Every square inch of the agency’s walls were covered in ads, not digital print outs – expensively framed high-end proofs.

A walk up the stairwell, from the basement to the top floor, was like flipping through the last ten D&AD annuals.

On the 4th floor, outside my office, was the Harrods campaign.

As much as we admired it, it wasn’t the kind of work you aspire to do when you’re in your 20s.

Who wants posh, elegant and timeless when you could have punchy, different and cool?

At the time, the ads seemed too mannered – ‘Dare we suggest this’, ‘May we recommend that’.

Why be so snooty?

Why not be chattier?

They also seemed to have this kind of ‘knowing’ tone, one said ‘Prove the Beatles wrong’.

(Every time my partner Sean would walk past he’d give a different interpretation – “What? Strawberry Fields isn’t Forever?”, “So…You can hide your love away?” or “She didn’t come in through the bathroom window?”.)

Then there were the sale ads; they didn’t change for about fifteen years.

Same headline in ever media channel.

Same photographer year after year.

The only thing that changed were the shots. (Which were basically products shots.)

I remember Tom Carty scanning that wall, taking in all those sale ads, from ceiling to floor, then reading the headline ‘There’s only one Harrods. There’s only one sale’.

After a beat, he added ‘There”s only one fucking ad!’

But as you clock up the years, your goals change.

Crazy, cool and punchy are no longer the North Stars.

They maybe be for one brand, but not every brand.

People put a variety of personalities in the same shopping basket.

They may buy a science fiction phone and put it in a case made by a 200 year-old leather company.

They may juice from a kooky, knockabout start-up and wine from pretentious, unfriendly wine company.

So you start trying harder to create work that reflects the businesses personality, not your own.

You avoid the temptation to starting from scratch every year (because it’s fun), putting your energy into building and refining what you’ve started.

Nurturing it.

Because long-lasting campaigns are far more valuable than endless short-term firework displays.

They should be listed alongside the rest of a companies assets, like warehouses, machinery and staff.

How much is ‘Just do it’ worth?

Or, getting back to Harrods, how much is ‘There’s only one sale’?

35 years after it was written, it’s still running (albeit in a bastardised form).

So how did it start?

(With pictures: https://davedye.com/2022/01/31/podcast-tim-delaney-on-how-to-do-premium/)