FCB West’s new CCO on remote working, Cannes clout and waking up thinking, ‘Holy shit!’
Jordan Doucette, the new chief creative officer at FCB West, discusses moving from an indie shop to a network agency, running a Californian creative business from 2,600 miles away, and her plan to best FCB’s exemplary Cannes record – even if it means sleepless nights.
Jordan Doucette, chief creative officer at FCB West, discusses her plans for the agency
If advertising agencies embrace remote working as a normal way of doing business, then a lot more jobs might end up looking like Jordan Doucette’s new gig. The freshly-installed chief creative officer of FCB West leads the ad shop’s creative direction from Toronto – 2,600 miles away from, and several hours ahead of, its base in San Francisco.
Doucette insists the set-up makes her a better executive. She tells The Drum: ”I’m on EST time, but I work PST hours. It’s been a gift; I have the morning to do work, to feel creative, and then in the afternoons, when I feel more mentally prepared, I join meetings.”
Furthermore, staying in Toronto means she doesn’t have to relocate her family; she has a daughter commencing high school next year. ”Leading up to my joining, we had a conversation about what [the job] might look like ... if that meant a permanent move, or if I can split my time. Right now the plan is I’ll be in San Fran when I’m needed. My dream is to spend the summers there. My daughter goes to high school next year, but once she’s done, who knows what that means for where I’ll be in the world?”
American scale
Previously, taking on a C-suite gig at a place such as FCB West would have meant a return to the States for Doucette, who was chief creative officer at Leo Burnett in Chicago, prior to a turn as partner and president at Toronto’s No Fixed Address.
”It was good move for me to come home from Leo Chicago, based on personal reasons. And it was a great experience. But I missed the US so much – the scale of the clients, the scale of their ambitions. We don’t have a lot of big CMO jobs in Canada.
”This was kind of a dream situation; a small office, part of a bigger network that has a clear vision on what success looks like.”
She arrives at FCB’s boutique arm at an interesting time. While the network brought home a successful haul from Cannes this year, worldwide creative partner Fred Levron departed for Dentsu, leaving global chief creative officer Susan Credle in charge.
For Doucette, it’s also a chance to work with a personal mentor. ”I don’t want to gush, but there is no one more amazing than Susan Credle. She has done so much, for me personally, for my career. Long before I joined FCB, she helped me get a visa for the US so I could work there. At my first awards show – I think it was the One Show in New York, I literally knew nothing – I met Susan and I didn’t even really realize who she was. She was kind and generous and shared her perspective on the work in a way that I now understand was so kind of her.
”For women in the industry, to have someone like that to look up to, with her perspective and her creative sensibility, is pretty incredible,” she says.
”Having spent the last year locked down in the same four walls, you really think about what you love, which for me is creative. I love making things, but I also love being challenged. Having Susan Credle as a boss, you’ve got that nervousness in your stomach. That’s exactly where I wanted to be in my career.”
Beating the high score
It’s also a chance to get stuck in to major brands at a key moment. FCB West’s select client roster includes illustrious advertisers such as Levi’s, and domestic cleaning brand Clorox, for which, like other brands associated with hygiene and cleanliness, the pandemic has meant opportunity and risk.
”Clorox, in the middle of Covid-19, has found itself in a really interesting position. That opens up the door to talking about how to really create value for people,” says Doucette.
”They’ve really lived their purpose of helping people through these times. So how do we build on that relationship with consumers? It feels like a huge opportunity ahead of us, to define where the brand is going to go after being in such high demand.”
Furthermore, the team is set to work on the first ever brand campaign of shoe brand Hoka, a new client. ”To be at the starting point of that process is incredible. I can’t wait to bring it to the world.”
Doucette’s primary opponent will be FCB’s existing record, particularly its 2021 high score at Cannes. Her plan? ”Get a giant ulcer and not sleep very much.
”I’m already counting down to next summer. It’s almost next Cannes – oh my god, it’s terrifying. But you know what? It’s a good problem to have. That’s exactly the feeling you want to have every morning, to wake up and be like, ’Holy shit!’”