The Egotist Interviews: Jonathan Schoenberg

By / October 23, 2008 /

Ask a thousand people which agencies they admire most in Colorado, and TDA Advertising & Design will inevitably be on their list. The reasons are many. We caught up with Jonathan Schoenber, TDA’s Creative Director/Partner, to talk about those forces coming together in perfect synchronicity at his Boulder shop.

Q: TDA is widely acknowledged as one of the most powerful new business machines in the industry in our region. To what do you attribute your unparalleled success in new business account wins? Any secrets you want to let us in on?

A: I think we have been lucky enough to work with people and companies who actually want to do good work, and that has resulted in other companies calling us to see what we can do for them. Also, we have amassed a team of smart and nice people who show up relatively sober to new business meetings.

Q: How does your agency get around its “boutique” size when approaching larger clients, and how often is that a factor?

A: I think the fact that we are a small agency is what is allowing for opportunities on big brands, so we don’t hide it. But there have been some funny first meetings when they see we are only 26 people.

Q: TDA’s PR and self-promotion efforts are dedicated, consistent and of very high quality. How big of a role do these play in attracting the attention of clients for your shop?

A: PR has been really good for us. I do think it helps in terms of potential clients but even more so to reassure current clients that you created something worthwhile for them.

Q: TDA seems to exist outside of the normal fray of local agencies. Are you consciously trying to avoid the advertising community here? Do you prefer to be perceived as a national agency?

A: I would not want people to think we avoid the community. There are great things happening in Denver. I certainly root for the agencies in Denver. We just did the new logo and website design for the New Denver Ad Club last month. At the same time, I hope people see us as a national agency, but we are very proud to be in this geography and want everyone here to do well.

Q: TDA’s creative is sometimes criticized for having a very recognizable “look.” Do you agree with that assessment?

A: Shit, I hate to hear something like that, but I concur there might have been a time that was a very relevant comment. We are very committed to simplicity and one could easily argue there was too much of that coming across on too many accounts a few years ago. I think our point of view has changed and hope that is reflected in our work.

Q: Your last shop, NY’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen, was famous for its long copy ad solutions. You and TDA have evolved with the times, creating mostly visual solutions today. But do you ever miss those days when agencies could get away with long copy ads? Do you think we’ll ever return to a day when people will spend time with ads for the sheer joy of reading them?

A: I am not sure if we will see a ton of long copy ads in the immediate future, but we are doing some here. Funny thing is, you have to talk clients into them, as opposed to a time when you had to talk them out of them. In terms of writing, agencies are getting a lot of opportunities to really write and not necessarily for a product or service. We just had a short film move forward with Disney that will run before their movies and we are seeing more opportunities like that.

Q: In Kansas City, you gave a speech and said you should commit to your mistakes. Can you expound on that subject and tell us why that’s important?

A: The title of that speech was “I am an idiot.” Most of what I talked about was personal and professional mistakes I made and that most of the mistakes worked out pretty well in the end. I think a lot of agencies are so concerned with making mistakes that they are never that successful getting people to know or care about their clients.

Q: You’ve been involved in the rebuilding (or building) of the ad program at CU Boulder. Do you think a creative education at CU can replace other creative finishing schools like Miami Ad School and The Creative Circus?

A: I don’t. I am actively involved with some of the “finishing schools” and their students have so many more classes and time on their portfolios that it is very difficult to have our undergrads make the transition to the industry as easily. At the same time, the advanced portfolio students have penciled in the One Show every year except one of the last 8 years, which is crazy. There is conversation about having a masters program at the school that would allow for students to enter the profession from CU.

Q: We’ve heard rumors of TDA poaching free intern talent from the program, working them hard and then sending them packing. Any truth?

A: When we first took interns here, they worked only on their books and did errands and answered phones and were not paid. They all went on to amazing jobs. We did not have jobs for people at that point, but just brought back Jeremy Seibold as an ACD who was one of those original interns.

In the last three years we have taken two students from my class who do work on TDA assignments and they are paid $10,000 the first year and $20,000 the second year. They get a great deal of guidance and instead of spending $60,000 on a portfolio school we give them $30,000. The first team to do this is now working at TDA and doing an awesome job.

When you consider that Wieden + Kennedy created a similar program and those students pay the agency $13,000 a year for two years, this seems pretty fair. We have skeletons in the closet, but the intern thing is at best altruistic and at worst mutually beneficial.

Q: How has Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s move to Boulder affected your agency, both good and bad?

A: That has been nothing but good. We have had a good rapport with them for many years before they came to Boulder. Alex has sent opportunities our way and has been really helpful and supportive to me in terms of dealing with how our agency has changed over the last year and making good decisions.

Q: What skills and knowledge do you believe are critical for someone wanting to grow from an art director or copywriter into a creative director?

A: I had a lot of time to make the transition because our agency was so small. Now, as I am spending so much time as an actual creative director, I am still trying to figure it out. I think it is important for creative directors to still put themselves out there and do some work because it is easy to forget what the process is like and also embrace the people that don’t think the way they do. The latter is difficult but really important.

TDA Advertising & Design is a strategically-focused creative agency with $26 million billings from clients including, among others, Annie’s Homegrown, FirstBank, General Electric, Pizza Inn, USA Networks, bot Beverages, Cloudveil, Johnson & Johnson, Titus Bicycles, Newton Running Shoes, and 1% for the Planet.