Breakthrough with Rob Reilly - Disrupt. Express. Reflect.

In this series, we ask our people to define what 'Breakthrough' means to them, both from a career standpoint and a personal note.

Our next issue features Rob Reilly, Global Chief Creative Officer, WPP.

What does ‘breakthrough’ mean to you?

In our industry, a breakthrough happens when suddenly people talk about, spread, and celebrate your work outside of an intended audience. You must have the freedom and confidence to break things to make things that land in culture, whether breaking habits, rules, or, best of all, mindsets. Breaking through starts with breaking something.

What’s been the most inspiring personal breakthrough in your life?

For me, it was realising that although I had helped make my former company wildly successful creatively, I was also, at times, disrespectful to others while doing it. The breakthrough for me was doing a year of coaching, and since then, I can proudly say I’m a recovering asshole. Seriously though, without that coaching, I would not be who I am today. Coaching should be a mandatory part of all leader's responsibilities from day one.

What was the breakthrough moment in your career?

At 34 years old, I realised that I had all I needed on paper to be a great creative leader, except for one thing – the work. So, I quit my high-paying, high-titled job in NYC and re-booted my career as a copywriter at Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Doing that enabled me to really build a war chest of award-winning work, which showed I could walk the walk. This was a great calling card for me personally, but mostly it enabled me to attract and work with new breakthrough talent based on a collection of compelling work.

Tell us about a piece of work you were involved with that you would define as a breakthrough.

In 2005, I worked on a campaign for Mini Cooper. The premise was ‘counterfeit mini’. We fabricated a narrative that Mini Coopers were being illegally counterfeited and sold online and via salubrious methods. The campaign was launched with a ‘Counter Counterfeit Commission’, a fake agency to help car buyers identify these fakes. It was lifted from the luxury industry's continuous campaigns around fake goods, like Rolex and Gucci handbags. It was utterly left-field and wildly successful, a first in its category. You can check it out here.

What breakthrough in this industry - achieved by someone else - do you really admire? What do you admire about it?

I’d have to say TikTok has been an incredible breakthrough for the broader creative industry. We’ll look back in time and be amazed that a simple algorithm has created a platform that has provided opportunity and recognition for artists, creatives, entrepreneurs, and breakthrough talent. Of course, the platform, like others, is not without its issues, but it has remained at the center of the creative community as a platform to gain awareness and, of course, be wildly entertaining at times.