Mark Denton

This week we deliberately kept standing on rakes and getting repeatedly thwacked in the face in order to lure out the king of creative nonsense, Mr Mark Denton esq.

The creative hero that advertising needs, but doesn’t entirely deserve, Mark Denton is the once-in-many-lifetimes imagination behind more than 500 commercials – scooping up so many awards he could spend all day throwing them at passing canoeists and still have armfuls to spare. With even the biggest creative industry on the planet unable to entirely hold Mark’s interest, he’s flitted magnificently between the worlds of art, fashion and furniture design – Dentonising each field to glorious effect. Currently chief of COY! Communications, Mark is surgically re-implanting advertising’s forgotten sense of fun, and putting the ‘big idea’ back on the table.

Teetering gloriously at the edge of what he calls ‘old geezership’, Mark has a lifetime of stories, adventures and quadruple-strength whimsy to impart – covering everything from stumbling into advertising, why he’s embracing new creative spaces and his famous experiment as a 65-year-old intern.

Visit Mark Denton's Website

Follow Mark on Instagram

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn

TIMESTAMPS

(03:55) - Mark Meets Duncan

(07:00) - Family Background and Career Choices

(09:15) - First Job and Sneaking in Creative Ideas

(12:25) - The Cadbury's Cream Eggs Breakthrough

(18:10) - Adapting to Different Agency Styles

(23:30) - Interning at St. Luke's

(30:00) - The Role of Process in Agencies

(32:00) - The Decline of Quirkiness in Advertising

(35:00) - The Need for Entertainment in Ads

(37:00) - The Creative Fulfilment in the Ads Your Working On

(39:00) - Encouraging Young Creatives

(40:30) - Visual Posters Make Great Ads

(43:00) - Encouraging Enthusiasm in Advertising

(46:00) - Allowing Creatives to be Creative

(49:00) - Conclusion and Reflection on Change

(51:00) - Getting his head round TikTok

(57:10) - Listener questions

(01:01:25) - 4 pertinent posers