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Interview with Supercool Creative

by . July 30th, 2009

Looking to learn more about viral marketing and videos? Then you should definitely look into the work of David Murdico’s creative agency Supercool Creative. With clients like IBM, FIFA and HateFiring.com, you may have seen some of their contagiously hilarious videos on youtube. We contacted David for a quick interview about his agency and to discuss the field of viral marketing.

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Tell us about SuperCool Creative. How would you describe your services in a nutshell?

Supercool Creative is a creative agency specializing in online video creative and production, viral marketing and integrated social media campaigns for companies and organizations that want to improve brand awareness, increase traffic, sales and all that good stuff. We also own Spotzero, a company that is doing the same thing but with a focus on small and local businesses with local targeting and reach.
Our approach is to use video as the spearhead for each social media campaign, creating a focal point for discussion on blogs, forums, social networks and bookmarking sites.

How did you come to be the executive creative director?

I started the company, so when I got here. I pretty much had my pick of titles. It’s kind of like when you’re the kid who brings the baseball you get to be the pitcher.
Actually, after graduating from USC in the early 90’s I wanted to be a creative at an ad agency somewhere but they told me a needed something called a book. So instead of putting together a book, I went into commercial and TV production because they didn’t require a book to fetch coffee and do errands for long hours and very little pay. I became the annoying PA that asked everyone a million questions, learned a lot and eventually I worked up to becoming an art director on commercials and TV shows, then a TV comedy writer and then a commercial director. As the web started picking up, I started making funny commercial parodies and then we decided to make them for companies. So, as we started Supercool Creative, my job description added up to Executive Creative Director and it stuck.

It looks like your portfolio includes a lot of comedy based viral work. What was your personal favorite project?

I think Hatefiring was my favorite project because it’s a series and we really got to develop an attitude and personality for the online video spots as well as for the characters. I have always leaned toward the irreverent but whenever you can mix insanity and smart you really have something. The “Asteroid” video for IBM was also a lot of fun. They were great to work with and really allowed us to get a little crazy.

Our readership includes many people in the creative fields of graphic design and 3d animation. Do you find that your company works with these types of professionals often? What do you look for when working with designers?

Since most of the work we have done is live action, we haven’t worked with a ton of graphic designers and 3d animators but that is something we plan on doing much more of. In fact, we have been talking to a couple of shops on the East Coast that do animation and interactive, like animated banners, video banners and micro sites where you can play around with different characters. We are working on partnering with them to offer our clients more in the way of design and animation while at the same time, they can offer their clients more in the way of live action video, comedy and marketing. That said, the thing I look for most in anyone I work with, designers included, is a likeness of attitude and work ethic. You can find creativity and skill all over the place but I think the thing that really separates the few is a special attitude toward their work, their clients and a respect for the creative process. Paint me a perfectionist but I liken what we all do to that medieval blacksmith who takes pride in the glowing hot thing he’s pounding and sweating over, whether it’s a sword for a valiant knight or a horse shoe… and I’ll bet he had to debate form vs function on a daily basis as well.

As a successful creative director, do you have any words of wisdom for our readers at YouTheDesigner.com

Yes, open your mind up to all sorts of possibilities, never get stuck on the first idea that pops into your head until you’ve considered a bunch more and never shoot down any ideas until you have to. I am a big believer in collaboration on creative projects. Everything we, as individuals, create is limited by our own life perspective because that’s the lens we each look through and it’s all we each have. When you can combine different perspectives, you really start opening up new possibilities. The down side of that is the risk of homogenizing the work by making everyone happy at each turn. My process toward creating, as well as directing on set, is to listen to the people I have surrounded myself with and try a rewrite, a scene or an edit out a few different ways and then run everything back again through my lens. Most often, the final script, take or edit is something better than what I had imagined.

Check out Super Cool Creative’s newest Viral Video Business Wonder Drug

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

YouTheDesigner is a graphic design blog under the UCreative Network. We do features; give away brushes, icons, wallpapers, and other freebies; and bring you the latest news in the world of graphic design.