An interview with Mr.Chaerles Kollewe (5)
Doyle Dane Bernbach Inc. Vice President, Copy Group Supervisor
chuukyuu In recruiting a new copywriter, does the agency ever invite someone to join the agency? Or does the copywriter outside the agency first approach the agency? Which is the majority case?
Mr. Kollewe Sure, we invite people from outside the agency to join us. At least we did when I first came here. I recall supervisors spotting a really brilliant ad in some magazine or newspaper and recommending that we find out who did it and offer him a job.
But in most cases, they approach us. Unfortunately, we often go for long periods of time beforewe spot someone we really want. And sometimes when we do, we don't really need him.
But, in some cases, when the writer was really an ex-ceptionally talented person, we've made room for him.
chuukyuu In interviewing those applicants, who must be attracted by the creative freedom in DDB, what particular points do you examine?
Mr. Kollewe It depends on which supervisor is looking at the book. Oneperson may look for sharp headlines and concepts, while another may study body copy very carefully.
Actually, not everyone has the ability to spot other talent. Just as not all good writers have the ability to begood supervisors. But whatever it is that a supervisor looks for in a man's book, it has to be outstanding. I would say that the most important thing I look for is how the writer thinks.
If he shows originalityand freshness, that's often not enough. It has to be based on good, solid, common sense. I'd rather work with someone who's a good thinker but a poor writer, than someone who's a good writer but a poor thinker. Because it's easier to help him improve his writing than it is to, help him improve his thinking.
Of the billion people who may starve in 1976,
how many will be White? Black? Yellow? Brown?
The statisticians say that in ten years over a billion-not---a million, but a billion-people may be dying of hunger.
And judging from experience, Famine will be color---blind---a true believer in equality. In one way or another, it will affect every single one of us.
Since we know what's coming, is there anything we can do to prevent it?
Most experts agree that the first step is to greatly increase the production of fertilizers and our knowledge of how to use them.
It makes sense. When our farm yield needed boosting during World War II, Olin was able to develop an ammonium phosphate fertilizercalled Ammo-Phos ---that helped produce more wheat, more corn and more beans per acre than was ever thought possible.
Because of an even greater need today, we'ver ecently completed a $45,000,000 expansion program in our Agricultural Division to increase our production of Ammo-Phos and other high analysis fertilizers.
Ofcourse, this isn't the only way to deal with famine. But the fact is that right now Olin fertilizers are helping one acre of American farmland do the work of four and more acres. And there's no reason why this can't be done for farmlands everywhere.
After all, with the peace of the entire world at stake, only the foolish would ignore a threat of international famine. And although we, as a nation, may try to feed the hungry everywhere, the day will come when we just can't.
So doesn't it make much more sense to help the hungry learn to feed them---selves---now, before it's too late?
Another ad by another team.(Mr. Bob Gage and Mrs. Phyllis Robinson)
Who discovers scientists in sneakers?
Somewhere among today's teenagers are tomorrow's scientists. But how do we find them?
Listen to the cynics lalk of softnes. stupidity and worse in our youngsters, and you give up. But the fact is, we're growing them 'smarter every year. If many of our teenagers don't know how to use the brains they were born with, it's because we have failed to challenge and excite them.
This is a responsibility, we all share. Olin, concerned with the bright high school student who never comes close to his potential, offered to support a unique educational experiment in one of its plant communities.
The plan was worked out with the school board. An exceptionally talented Chemistry teacher was brought to Monroe, Louisiana. From this average high school population, he chose thirty students, and put them through a tough but exciting course in college-level Chemistry.
It was like watching the stars come out. One student lit up, then another and another. They slugged away at complex Chemistry textbooks.
They lost themselves in fascinating laboratory experiments. They felt the thrill of growth. Some said, "I've just begun to learn how to study." "We had been polishing our bricks and dulling our diamonds," said the
Superintendent of Schools.
Other teachers saw what could be done, slarted giving more to their students and demanding more from them. Sud・denly there was a new hero on campus: The Brain.
Another thirty took the course next year. Now fifty-five of those sixty are planning careers in the sciences. Leading colleges and universities have flung open their doors to them. So far, they've earned over $80,000 in scholarships.
Other outstanding teachers were found. The plan was extended from Chemistry to Physics, from Monroe to five other Olin plant communities. Everywhere the plan has gone, the excitement has followed: students growing, learning how to think, setting their goals higher.
Nearly four hundred students have already participated in the plan. Not four hundred Einsteins, but four hundred bright kids whose natural drive to learn has been given a chance to flourish. It's the best answer we know to the weepers and wailers, and Olin has no patent on the idea.
