5 Minutes with… Jack Lamacraft
Jack Lamacraft says that his upbringing was “pretty mad” - he grew up in a small village in West Somerset, and “incredibly isolated” with the Bristol Channel in one direction and Exmoor in the other. All the village had, in his words, was one crappy road in and out and no train line.
The most exciting part of life there was the farm Jack grew up on - sheep, goats, pigs, chicken and geese all over, as well as various cats and dogs. “We left our car keys in the ignition and never saw a front door key,” says Jack. “I walked across a field to get to school, which has only about 20 pupils in two classes.”
This upbringing is what gave way for an awesome sense of freedom and community, which served as the foundation for who Jack would become growing up. “We roamed the village on our bikes, camped out for days and had so many adventures. I loved it. Creativity was embedded in us all from a very early age - we were always building, exploring and inventing.”
This, combined with his later fascination with brands, led Jack down the path of creativity. He started his career in adland in the early ‘00s and was lucky enough to work at some of the best around, including Cake, Exposure and Frank PR where he was taught that “ideas are everything” and that with the right one, everything falls into place. In 2008, he moved to Sydney, where he set up and ran the local M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment where he got accustomed to the business side of agencies.
Ten years later, combining that crucial business knowledge with his love of creativity, he set up The Park with two of his best friends, where he works with brands who “have something to prove.” LBB’s Zoe Antonov sat down with Jack to find out more about his life and career.
LBB> What were the first proper steps you took towards your current career: university education, first jobs?
Jack> As I grew older, I became obsessed with brands, much to the annoyance of my parents who didn't understand why I needed a certain pair of trainers just because they had a different logo on the side to another. I was also really into skateboarding and loved all those brands too. I was always the kid with the best skateboard and clothes who was too scared to actually do any tricks - I just loved the culture and what skating stood for. As I got older, I became interested in why I loved certain brands and not others, and this led me to becoming interested in business and specifically marketing, which is what took me to Liverpool Business School to do a marketing degree.
LBB> What are the best lessons you learned from the early years of your career?
Jack> I was lucky enough to start my career at Cake in the summer of 2000. It was an incredible time at an amazing agency, and I learned so much from those three years.
Firstly, the idea is everything. With the right idea, everything else falls into place - people will want to talk about it, the media will want to write about it, and it will ultimately take on a life of its own. Secondly, creativity is in everyone. Back then there was no creative department, there wasn't even anyone with the work creative in their job title. It was a collective responsibility and everyone contributed and added value. Thirdly, you need to be brave and sometimes be scared about the work you're putting out into the world. If it's too safe it won't work.
LBB> Did you always know experiential would be your path and if not how did you find it? What drew you to it?
Jack> I always loved events. I am totally obsessed with the Glastonbury Festival and love how you can really make people feel something by immersing them into an environment that you've created.
I also love the challenge of creating something from scratch. I love the feeling you get before you open the doors or push a campaign live, and ultimately, I love seeing how people respond to something you've created. For us, experiential is much broader than just events, it's about a brand using action to prove what they stand for, not just saying it and that really resonates with me.
LBB> What pushed you into co-founding The Park and what gap in the market were you filling with it? What was the story there?
Jack> I always wanted to do my own thing at some point in my career, and I guess I was waiting to meet the right people to do it with. I have always loved being part of a team and always wanted to do something alongside other people who shared some of my principles, but were also different and would challenge me.
Meeting Will Wordsell in Sydney was the catalyst for The Park. Lloyd Major and I knew each other well from our Cake days, but Will was the person that really got us thinking about how we could create something unique. Will was at MediaCom at the time and was able to push content out to millions of people, controlling huge budgets, whereas Lloyd and I were at agencies where we were creating really interesting work, but were sometimes frustrated due to the lack of reach. By combining all our skills and backgrounds we have something quite unique and that led us to create The Park. We love experiential but know that to really move the dial for our clients, the work needs to be effective. It needs to reach a big audience far beyond the people experiencing it first hand. This is where our backgrounds in PR, advertising, media, content and social really help us.
LBB> How has experiential changed in the past ten years in your opinion and what is the direction it's going into now?
Jack> The last ten years have seen the experiential industry change massively, it's been a wild ride. There is now (and rightly so) a much greater focus on effectiveness and measurement, and we need to make sure every pound of the client's money is working hard to deliver business and brand objectives. As mentioned in the previous answer, we now also need to make sure there's a real focus on the secondary audience and that we're creating reach. We're competing against the traditional creative agencies alongside digital and media agencies, and the numbers need to be comparable or the client is going to spend their budget elsewhere.
Although covid-19 was a horrendous and terrifying time for our industry, it massively accelerated our digital knowledge. We had to embrace technology and work out how we could deliver an experience through a screen which ultimately has helped us.
Finally, in terms of where it's heading now, we're in a unique position where people are craving experiences and we're able to deliver those through our clients. There aren't many other forms of marketing that people actively want to engage with. We need to keep pushing, we need to keep being unique, we need to remember what sets us apart from other marketing channels and embrace that. We need to challenge our clients to deliver ground-breaking and effective work.
LBB> Tell me about a couple of your most exciting projects to date and what made them that?
Jack> There have been so many over the last six years, it's like trying to choose a favourite child. The one project that I loved every minute of was for ASICS back in 2021, where we took over a town in Nottingham and got them all exercising for one day to help lift their collective mood.
I loved it because we engaged and made a difference to a community that is usually ignored by brands. It's amazing what happens when you get out of the usual cities that our industry gravitates towards. It also created a great film that people who weren't able to attend the event still wanted to watch, and ultimately, it worked and increased brand preference.
LBB> And what about your most challenging project to date? How did you overcome these challenges?
Jack> Our most challenging project was a project we delivered for Primark back in 2019. We put together a conference for a thousand of their staff in a venue that was not ideal (and that's putting it mildly). We overcame it by staying strong as a team and working for each other; there were things beyond our control but ultimately, if we stayed tight we'd make it a success (and we did), but it was a wild ride - that's for sure.
LBB> In your spare time, what are your hobbies and passions?
Jack> I love to run and try and get out as much as I can, which is pretty hard with three young daughters. Also, as mentioned, I am obsessed with Glastonbury Festival. This year will be number 20 for me, and I can't wait to be back at Worthy Farm again. It's the most creative, inspiring and exciting environment and event in this country and I come away every year feeling so energised about what's possible.
