TAXI >>Hello Mark. You were formerly an artist and architect before cutting your teeth in advertising, where you were brought in to take campaigns beyond traditional media. How has your background influenced the work that you create today, and what lessons can you draw from your unconventional history?

Mark Chalmers>>As an artist I created installations, as an architect I created branded environments and as a Perfect Fool I’m yet again dealing with environments, the visitor journey, the site architecture.

People often ask me if I miss architecture, but I’m doing exactly the same thought process now as I was then. The turn around is just quicker in marketing. If you are a creative person, then you need to ‘make’.

The other thing I’ve learnt recently is how much advertising is just a business segment within marketing. The idea of a ‘bolt on’ promise is plain out of date.


TAXI >>You've been described as having "almost killed Boy George with the world's largest faulty glitter ball". What was that all about?

Mark Chalmers>>Yep – would be great if I could remember as well. Close friends of mine ran the infamous London club nights ‘Come Dancing’. Our ambitions were big and so was the glitter ball we brought in for a New Years eve spectacular. It really was enormous, required it’s own truck and onsite assembly, and yep, it was faulty. It fell and almost took out Boy George during rehearsals. Boy George has had a few scrapes in his time, he was very much the gentleman.


TAXI >>With the current global economic crisis causing widespread uncertainty, worldwide retrenchments and a huge cutback on advertising budgets, how do you think the creative industry would develop in the near future to ensure it stays relevant and sensitive to changing financial and political climates?

Mark Chalmers>>The best thing about the creative industry is that by nature, it is and has to be adaptable to what’s going on around it - and it’s this lack of awareness from other industries that’s enabled them to get a little comfortable in their ways providing products and services that have had diminishing relevance.

The climate is creating a great opportunity for us to shake up and get on our toes. It’s constructive ideas that are going to create stability again. We’ve heard it before. Embrace change and bugger off if you’re greedy.


TAXI >>You have been constantly acknowledged as one of the industry's top interactive creatives over the years - how important do you think is the design element in a conventional ad campaign these days?

Mark Chalmers>>Good design is very important . Conventional advertising is everywhere so make it work, make it look nice, make it add, or make it sit there being happy and humble.


TAXI >>With the web now surpassing print circulation to become the most widely-read medium in the world, what do you feel are some of the most common mistakes new publications make when they enter the industry?

Mark Chalmers>>Simply put, there’s always room for a publication to have and to hold. People like picking things up and collecting things.

Fine, but that’s always going to be a minimal take up compared to online usage. The magazine shelf product is just an entry point to what’s online. I feel a common mistake would be to consider a physical publication to be more than a loss leader.


TAXI >>Can you please tell us a little more about the Creative Social publication, and what we can expect from it?

Mark Chalmers>>The working title is Past Present Future and it’s a collection of essays by some of our members, such as Simon Waterfall, Chris Clarke, Fabio Pintu, Ale Lariu, Johnny Vulkan… pioneers of the industry. It’s out of date of course as soon as it’s published apart from Joakim Borgstroms brilliant retrospective. We’ll post some news about it, creativesocialblog.com


TAXI >>Perfect Fools prides itself on crafting great online marketing experiences and campaigns that are tailor-made to the customer. How do you think that digital media has changed the way people engage in brands and relationships?

Mark Chalmers>>How about made it a lot more easier, effective, fun and democratic?

Digital media enables dialogue so a lot of brands have found they need to be far more honest. That’s got to be a good thing.


TAXI >>Barriers of entry to becoming a creative has dropped dramatically in the past decade, due to widespread acceptance, increased specialised curriculums and easily-accessible software available today. What do you think are some of the most common mistakes young creatives of today make when they first enter the industry?

Mark Chalmers>>We have a lot of people approach us as ‘ideas people’. Everyone is an ideas person, it’s making them relevant, great and making them happen that counts. Be an ideas person but have a skill that can enable those ideas. That can be typical software skills such as photoshop, it could be writing, it could be negotiation, or project planning.


TAXI >>What is the WORD, which you think would reside and reverberate in the creative world for the next 10 years?

Mark Chalmers>>Collaborate.



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