Lucille Essey — Vice-President & Executive Creative Director, Jack Morton HK
Lucille talks to TheNextGag about her creative dreams, what keeps her inspired, what makes Chinese clients different and what brought her to Asia.
Lucille Essey is Vice-President & Executive Creative Director at Jack Morton Worldwide Hong Kong in China.
Lucille Essey is responsible for bridging the gap between disciplines with creative solutions that translate across channels. She has over 20 years’ industry experience internationally, having held leadership roles at Luminous Experiential MSLGROUP and Uniplan, and rejoined Jack Morton after previously working for Jack Morton China.
Across these roles, Lucille has worked with brands including Proctor & Gamble, Cartier, Audi, adidas, Galaxy Entertainment Group, Samsung, Sands China, City of Dreams Macau, HSBC and JP Morgan, and most recently with Studio City Macau for its Grand Opening event.
THENEXTGAG: WHAT IS YOUR ROLE AT JACK MORTON ?
LUCILE ESSEY: I feel like my biggest role at Jack Morton Hong Kong is to keep my team inspired, to the point that they run way ahead of me. And that comes down to me being inspired and translating the visceral passion I feel into how I do my job. On a more granular level, my role is to sense check every piece of creative work that goes out the door and to make sure we are challenging ourselves and delivering better results.
TNG: WHAT MADE YOU JOIN THE COMPANY ?
LE: I first joined in 2001. It was the first job I applied for and I needed a job having literally just packed a bag and come to Hong Kong with very little in my back pocket. The advert was placed in a local HK community magazine and there was something about the three faces [the Jack Morton logo] that sparked a curiosity inside me. After my first interview, and then my second, I remember phoning up HR and saying “how long is it going to take for you to realise I’m the right one for the job!”. I stayed with Jack until 2007 and then went to spread my wings and returned back in a full-time capacity in October last year. In that nine year period I stayed connected to Jack and worked across the region for them (in a consultancy capacity) but that time was important because it exposed me to so many different agencies and ways of working. Last year, it was like coming full-circle. I’m thrilled to be back.
I thrive on the energy created when the chemistry of creative minds spark
TNG: WHAT MAKES YOU THE BEST SUITED FOR THAT POSITION ?
LE: I love what I do! I mean I really love what I do and I feel so connected to my team and I thrive on the energy created when the chemistry of creative minds spark — it’s transformative. Our clients feel that and that makes the difference. I’m still very hungry and there is so much I want to achieve.
TNG: DO YOU FINT THAT CLIENTS IN CHINA/MACAU/HK HAVE DIFFERENT EXPECTATIONS OF A BRAND EXPERIENCE VERSUS IN THE REST OF THE WORLD ?
LE: Absolutely! Their expectations are different because where they come from culturally is so different.The culture in this region is unlike any other part of the world and it has a rich and ancient history. So you need to understand almost at a molecular level, where your audience is coming from and how that shapes their expectations once it’s mixed in with their daily lives. Audiences are not willing to indulge you and you have to work very hard to keep hold of their attention. It’s like to coaxing them in, showing them the goods and then they will either play your game or not and that decision happens within minutes. Once you’ve lost them, there is no going back. But on the flip side if you win them over and they engage, amazing things unfold.
TNG: HOW IMPORTANT ARE CELEBRITIES IN THE PRODUCTION OF BRAND EXPERIENCES ?
LE: It depends. Traditionally celebrities are hugely valuable and just having them present at an event can ensure numbers. But it’s complex because there are very different tiers of celebrities and also very distinct categories, so you need to be mindful when you advise a client if they are insisting on a celebrity presence. However, the climate is changing and I’ve noticed that some clients are realising that it’s the celebrity that often ends up getting the exposure whilst diluting their brand’s message. So we now have clients who specifically want to keep celebrities out of their brand experiences.
TNG: WHERE DO YOU FIND YOUR CREATIVE INSPIRATION ?
LE: It’s never in one particular place for me, it’s more about being open and sometimes it can come from the seemingly mundane. People are very inspiring and not just artists, I just have to look around me with my eyes and my heart open. Also I relish ideas, things, expressions, art, music that resonates with the crazy, entirely manic person who lives inside me..but that’s more like a secret pleasure!
TNG: IS THERE AN EVENT THAT YOU WOULD LOVE TO BE THE ART DIRECTOR FOR, LIKE THE OLYMPIC GAMES OPENING CEREMONY ? OR A DIFFERENT KIND OF BRAND EXPERIENCE WHICH YOU WOULD LOVE TO ART DIRECT ?
LE: Maybe not so much a specific event but rather there are people I’d love to work with and places I’d love to work. I’d give anything to work with Tan Dun, creating a visual language for his music, I’d also love to work with David Zolkwer. I think it would be incredible to work with Die Antwoord, although I’d probably never be the same again. How many choices do I have have because I still have a long, long list…
TNG: DO CLIENTS BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF STORYTELLING THROUGH BRAND EXPERIENCE ?
LE: Our job is to demonstrate the power of storytelling in such a compelling way that the belief seems natural to them.
TNG: CHECK YOUTUBE AND YOU SEE DOZENS OF PARODIES OF TED TALKS. DON’T YOU FEEL THAT LIVE EVENTS CAN BECOME SO STANDARDIZED THAT THEY ARE RIPE FOR SATIRE ?
LE: Today, most things are ripe for satire and I think that’s a good thing. It keeps us honest and self-reflective and reminds us to have a sense of humour.
TNG: WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO ASIA ? HOW WAS WORKING IN SINGAPORE, BEIJING AND DELHI ?
LE: I had worked in the States and in London and I was looking for something different, I wanted to experience Asia. It was crazy, I did next to no research and just jumped on a plane to Hong Kong on a visitors visa which allowed me 6 weeks. That was almost 16 years ago!
Lucille Essey
Jack Morton Worldwide Hong Kong
VP & ECD
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