In the advertising world, Rich Cooper is a freelance legend. He parachutes into agencies and helps them diffuse creative problems. His career spans 15+ years as a copywriter, having once worked full time at Roche, DDB and then as a sound producer at Rosnick McKinnon. When Dashboard sat down with Rich, we wanted to hear about why he turned to the freelance side and his take on why freelancers keep this industry moving.
#1. So what made you decide to go freelance?
Because I’m gregarious and I thrive on change and adversity… no wait… money.
#2. What’s a day in the life of a freelancer?
I jump out of bed and bike to one of 15 or so agencies. I grab an insightful brief and turn it into an attention-grabbing idea for a wonderful product that everybody needs. Then I sell that idea to an enthusiastic client who thanks me profusely. Somewhere in the middle I eat a giant sandwich.
#3. Because you work in a lot of agencies, from your p.o.v, what’s the state of our industry right now?
It’s a gong show, but at least it’s interesting. We are still largely working on the old “push” model of communication. A company makes a product, hires an agency, instructs the agency to tell people why the product is great and why everybody wants it. The looming changes to this absurd model are causing a lot of anxiety.
#4. Will you ever go back to full-time?
I have learned so much about advertising, advertising agencies and the businesses they serve. Nobody has been down in the trenches as much as I have over the past seven years. It’s time I put that knowledge to a higher purpose. That may involve a full time job but (and this is a giant but) I will need to believe in what that company is doing to make the world a better place. Every couple years I have a real crisis of meaning, and I can’t continue to ignore that, no matter how insanely lucrative my present job my be.
Thanks so much Rich. We totally appreciate your time.
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