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Unconventional ad man
Los Angeles Business Journal, Feb 9, 1998 by Jason Booth
David Lubars fits the stereotype of the high-flying advertising executive. At 39, he heads BBDO West, one of the biggest advertising agencies on the West Coast.
Among the shop's current clients are Starbucks Coffee, Pioneer Electronics, MGM/UA and L.A. Cellular. Among the campaigns BBDO has created under Lubars' guidance is Glendale Federal Bank's highly publicized campaign bashing rival Wells Fargo.
Lubars took the agency's helm in 1994, nine months after joining the firm. Before joining BBDO, Lubars was a partner and creative director of Leonard Monahah Lubars & Kelly, a boutique ad agency in Providence, R.I.
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Lubars' tenure has not been trouble free. Last June, BBDO lost the Apple Computer Co. account; Apple ended a 12-year relationship by jumping to BBDO's cross-town rival TBWA Chiat/Day.
Question: Advertising is known for being two worlds the "suits" and the "creatives." You seem to straddle both. How have you accomplished that?
Answer: Even when I was on the creative side, I always had a good relationship with my clients. I always thought of the business overall. So I found myself as a business person who can also do creative work. Frankly, I always thought there were better creative people than me. I think I was successful because I could meet the client and understand what they would like, as well as what would be good.
Q: What drives you personally?
A: It's not just ambition. It is more about excellence. About having my peers and the people who watch TV see our work and think it is really cool.
Not only are they entertained, they feel good about that company. Ninety-five percent of the agencies in the country are mediocre to terrible. You watch television and you are insulted. Then there is this 5 percent that does stuff that is so neat. We want to be there.
Q: How do you go about securing an account?
A: It is a series of brutal 18-hour days because all your competitors are also working 18-hour days. There are no shortcuts allowed in the new-business effort. Everything has to be thought out to the highest degree and ground down so everything is buffed and shined for that effort. You have to show them not only great creativity, but great chemistry, an idea, a great understanding of their product. You can't fake those things.
It is an incredible amount of work. And that is why people are so devastated when they lose because you really dedicate a part of your life to it, and when you win it is so sweet because you know you beat out some great competition.
Q: Do people get pretty crazy when you finally win an account?
A: I think the best way is not to get too crazy. When we have a huge success I'll typically call everyone into the assembly room and announce it and then we will pop some champagne. In this business I've found that it is better not to get too excited about the ups and downs, because your head will explode.
Q: Give us example of a campaign that was inspired by something you saw on the street.
A: Something like the Pioneer Electronics account (which targets extreme-sports enthusiasts with the slogan "Buy a Pioneer stereo now because someday you will be dead"). That came about by watching kids, my nephews, and trying to get into that goofball youth head.
Q: Do you consider yourself a "Generation X" agency?
A: No, that would be a huge mistake, especially when there is another generation moving up called the "Echo Boomers." That's a massive demographic. By 2008 there are going to be more teenagers than at any time in history. You have to try and relate to each generation.
Q: There's been lots of turnover lately, with clients changing agencies. Why is that?
A: Every few years you get these big splits, it's like a cycle. We are at that stage now. Somebody once said that the day you get an account is the day you start to lose it.
Sometimes the client's business is not good and they need to find a way to reinvigorate themselves. And the first thing they usually decide to do is find a new ad agency.
Other times it is chemistry. They may be doing great work but they hate each other. Then, the most obvious reason is that they don't like your work.
Q: Which of those scenarios was behind your firm losing the Apple Computer account?
A: We went through lots of management changes with Apple, three years with three CEOs and six presidents. It was just an insane relationship, and when things went wrong they would all look to blame us.
When Steve Jobs came back, he was particularly anti-BBDO because of the (former Apple CEO) Sculley connection. Sculley had fired both Chiat/Day and Steve Jobs back in 1986. So when Jobs came back, he didn't want anything to do with us.
Q: In fact, Apple didn't drop your agency, you resigned. Why?
A: We felt we had been a loyal, hard-working partner with Apple. Through all the crises Apple went through, we were like the glue in the tissue keeping them in front of their audience.
When they said they wanted to put the account up for review, we were very disappointed and felt it was not appropriate to compete for the account.
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