August 4th 2016

Arron Child

Founder of Conjura

Ben Somerset-How

Client Director Creativebrief

Arron worked at Microsoft for six years spending his first year in Australia in Services Marketing and social media strategy. When his sister decided to get married in England, he sold everything he owned, left his job and bought a one way ticket. When he arrived, by chance, he was offered a role in the product marketing team for Windows Phone. He worked on the award winning ‘The Random Adventures of Brandon Generator’ directed by Edgar Wright, Atari Arcade and Cut the Rope campaigns. He moved on to the Windows Phone consumer marketing team and is most proud of the Gingerline #MI1020 campaign which ran in December last year.

He has now started his own agency Conjura, which creates immersive brand experiences infused with technology.

creativebrief: Why did you choose a career in marketing?

Arron Child: It’s a bit cliché but when I was 15 I read ‘Losing My Virginity’ By Richard Branson. I was amazed at how much fun he seemed to have as a businessman. I was also amazed at how he was able to grow so many businesses in so many different sectors and then create phenomenal positive societal impact through his charitable work.

creativebrief: What do you think makes a successful career in marketing?

Arron Child: There are 3 things that separates successful marketers from the rest for me. Marketers need to have a deep understanding of their target market. You need to understand cultural and technological trends in the market and how these can be utilised to communicate with the target market more effectively. There’s no point in innovation for innovation’s sake, it has to be used to impact end results. Finally, marketers need to be bold, passionate and able to influence others. The best marketers understand the above and are able to take an opportunity to influence and allow people to try something extraordinary. It doesn’t always come off, but when it does it’s spectacular and that’s the difference between a successful career in marketing and a career in marketing.

creativebrief: And who is a great example of this?

Arron Child: There are really too many to name. I’ve been really lucky to have been mentored by some of the greats in the industry through the Marketing Academy. These people have taken risks to achieve some of the brilliant campaigns. Philippa Snare, CMO, and Paul Davies, Marketing Director, have been brilliant at challenging us to take risks with our campaigns and come up with innovative and exciting campaigns.

creativebrief: What do you think are the main challenges facing marketers today?

Arron Child: We live in an age of distraction. Due to the advances in technology, there are more distractions for the consumer than ever before. Consumers are also targeted with more marketing stimulus than ever before as we find new ways to target the consumer. All in all, marketers have the challenge of breaking through the clutter to resonate with the consumer. The same marketing principles still apply, understand the consumer, deliver a contextually relevant message that gives the individual a reason to believe and an action to take. However, marketers need to be smarter about how they reach the consumer and embrace cultural and technological trends.

creativebrief: How do you keep up with constant stream of innovation in marketing comms?

Arron Child: I’m really interested in innovation and how technology can impact how we can communicate with our target market. I follow creative and technological thought leaders every day to make sure that I am across the latest trends in this space. I keep a network of people close to me that I catch up with regularly who all have a variety of interests and come from different backgrounds and thus see the world differently. This is really important to me as you never know where the source of inspiration will come from. Finally, I think it comes down to tapping into what you are passionate about. I’m really into immersive experiences, travelling and all matter of things that are counter culture. I use these as sources of inspiration to find new approaches to marketing.

creativebrief: How does this impact your relationship with agencies?

Arron Child: I’m always looking for campaigns that embrace technological and cultural trends so I push my agencies to deliver on this or I will take ideas to the agencies we work with. With projects like Gingerline #MI1020 it wasn’t the normal process. I came up with the idea and then worked with an agency to help flesh it out, which blurs the role of the client. With other projects, I’m not as hands on in the creative process. The best projects result from having a clearly defined goal, sharing a vision and understanding one another’s strengths and playing to that. I think that’s the critical part, knowing where to add value and be involved and where others are stronger and letting them lead.

creativebrief: How do you know if you’re getting the best from your agencies?

Arron Child: I feel the most alive when I’m working on a campaign that gives me butterflies. The butterflies tell you that it’s cutting edge. When we were working on ‘The Random Adventures of Brandon Generator’ there were moments of panic and doubt, but we always found a way through and that was exciting. An interactive graphic/comic/novel hadn’t been done before and there was no formula to turn too. Everyone that worked on the campaign was extremely passionate about it as we wanted to create that something that was cutting edge but would stand the test of time. I always look for the projects that are so audacious they scare me.

creativebrief: Of your recent work, what makes you particularly proud and why?

Arron Child: Gingerline #MI1020 without a doubt. The key unique selling proposition to the Lumia 1020 was the 41 Megapixel camera. This campaign was a brand new way to go to market for Microsoft and surprised a lot of people. I wanted to tap into 3 key hyper local trends; food, immersive experiences and counter culture. We created a story line whereby the user was a highly trained sleeper agent and needed to go through the latest training for a dangerous mission. This framework enabled us to weave the phone into the story in a credible way. The entry mechanic was a photo taken from the Lumia 1020 and then users would zoom into the photos, using the same zoom functionality as the Lumia 1020 to answer a clue. The campaign culminated in a 5 night event with twists and turns in the story and again, the Lumia 1020 was used to help agents solve missions. By weaving the brand into the story we gave it a credible reason to be part of it which gave the target market a reason to believe in it and talk about it. We saw amazing shifts in purchase consideration and intent as a result.

creativebrief: How do you think marketers can raise the profile of marketing within their organisations?

Arron Child: Do exceptional work that achieves results and then share it with colleagues and other teams within the organisation. Be proactive and seek best cases from other teams as it might stimulate new thoughts and create new opportunities.

creativebrief: Do you see yourself as a generalist or a specialist, does it matter?

Arron Child: I think it’s best to be a generalist when you are starting out in your career. That way you have a broad understanding of how it all comes together from media planning, creative rationale, consumer analytics etc. Once you have that in place you can start focusing your skill set. I’m focusing my skill set by setting up Conjura as it’s all about creating immersive brand experiences as I believe that it is where marketing needs to be headed.

creativebrief partner the Marketing Academy is a non-profit organisation which provides a unique forum for industry leaders, marketing gurus, entrepreneurs and inspirational people volunteer their time to inspire, develop and coach the next generation of future leaders. The Marketing Academy gift a maximum of 30 ‘Scholarships’ each year to the fastest rising stars in the marketing, advertising and communications industries. A team of high profile mentors and coaches develop these stars through a process of mentoring, coaching, networking and personalised learning. 86 mentors, 30 Coaches, 20 Judges, 36 companies and an owl called Merlin all provide their time, resources and knowledge to assist in shaping the minds of our future leaders. Furthermore as a vital part of their curriculum all Scholars volunteer at least one day per year through our Donate28 initiative to work with charities who need bright young marketing minds. For a full list of the individuals involved, see the Sherilyn Shackell interview.