Chris Gurney and Naohiro Togawa are presenting a session at ADFEST called “Want Bigger Ideas? Become a Dad”.
As dads, they’re going to share some examples of the way fathers at ADK are bringing bigger ideas outside the office to help inspire our kids and others in the community.
Togawa is Creative Director at ADK Tokyo, while Gurney is Regional Executive Creative Director, ADK Global, Singapore.
Have you been to ADFEST before? What's your favourite ADFEST memory from years past? Chris: Yes we have both been, I loved the drinks at sunset last year on the opening night
Naohiro: Yes. It was a very exciting moment for me when I was a jury for Direct Lotus in 2015.
Why do you think it’s important for creative people to share their ideas outside of the office with their kids, and beyond? Chris: We both feel that to produce better ideas for our clients and communities, you have to step out and find the ‘truth’ behind a problem.
As dads with young kids you don’t have an off button, you’re constantly on call to be imaginative and creative to an audience that demands honesty and innovation – they’re the real client.
Naohiro: When we work, we tend to look at consumers as a target or cluster of people that we are constantly trying to persuade or move by using mass power or new technologies. But when we face young kids, we learn that the most simple ideas or creativity can easily make them happy, and it's all about making that one person happy. They're the purest beings with just the fundamentals of human behavior.
Can you tell me a bit about who you are as a dad? How many kids do you have & how old are they? What do your kids teach you about creativity? Chris: I love playing football with my son and both he and my daughter love to swim and ride bikes and scooters around. As a dad: I’ll play every day with the kids (before and after school), I sleep in their bedroom and have very strong bond with them both.
I have two kids, one boy aged 7 and a girl aged 3.
Juggling work: It’s not so hard with kids once they are a little older and I make sure to prioritize my work-life balance.
Regarding kids’ creativity: both my kids are super-active and hugely imaginative. I teach them to explore what’s fun inside and outside the house. To play music, sports, to draw, do paper cutting, playdoh, role-playing, board games, computer games and to read books – reading is a massive thing in our house.
Naohiro: I have two daughters, aged 3 and a three-week old baby.
As my wife works full-time, my motto is "fair and equal parenting". I take my daughter to nursery school every day and pick her up every other day. (This is rare for fathers in Japan.)
In fact, I'm now on paternity leave. (This is really rare in Japan.)
As a result of that, I'm everything to my daughter and have a very strong bond with her. We do everything together. My wife could be on a week-long business trip and there won't be much problem.
Juggling work is not easy, to be honest. But I'm starting to get the rhythm and learning how to get the best work-life balance. I'm trying to present a new style of fatherhood in the agency and Japan, which I hope will have a positive effect on the working environment where my daughters will eventually be in.
My daughter has been teaching me to be 3 again. Drawing, cutting, stacking, folding, role-playing... You can't beat their imagination and curiosity. She's now starting the "why stage", where she's constantly asking me why this, why that. That's exactly what good marketers do!
‘Think Like a Dad: unleash your altruistic creativity’ runs on Wednesday 22nd March, 2:30pm https://www.adk.jp/en/