Centraal Beheer, Apple, and Stella Artois: The Work That Made Eliza Albie

Eliza Albie has focused on activating brands in the retail environment for 13 years, with a total of 20 years spent refining her craft. She's passionate about all aspects of shopper activation, from conceptual thinking and path-to-purchase planning, through to the art direction and key art creation. She has worked at agencies like Clemenger BBDO and Wunderman Thompson, and before that, in an OOH media company and a publishing house in London.

LBB> The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…

Eliza> All the Centraal Beheer Insurance ads that played during my childhood in Holland in the 90s. They’d been going since the 80s and had reached cult status thanks to the universally relatable silent comedy formula. The punchline was always 'Just Call Us'.

Turns out DDB Amsterdam is still creating them. They’re on their 61st ad and counting, having raked in Cannes Lions and even a cease-and-desist letter from the White House.

My childhood favourites have generally stood the test of time (notwithstanding the Lewinski scandal).

LBB> The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…

Eliza> This was actually the world of print -- from magazines to art history books to CD album foldouts. So, it makes sense that I started my career in publishing.

LBB> The creative work that I keep revisiting…

Eliza> I’ve managed to keep hold of a few old design mags in my moves (like étapes and communication arts) that I still flick through. I love looking back and seeing what designs have stood the test of time and which were just a phase.

LBB> My first professional project…

Eliza> Before my full-time job in publishing, I was freelancing in London doing POS for Marks & Spencer. Turns out I’ve been in the world of shoppers since day dot.

LBB> The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…

Eliza> Coming back to magazines again, in hindsight I think we can all see how toxic some of the content was. I’m looking at you Dolly.

LBB> The piece of work that still makes me jealous…

Eliza> Growing up and seeing Apple take over the world in real time. Those colourful iMacs quickly moved from only being seen in design studios to suddenly appearing in classrooms (and now in museums…).

Jumping from discmans to MP3 players for a hot minute and then seeing iPod ads with the dancing silhouettes. Even just their obsession with the perfect product packaging. It was and still is all so iconic.

LBB> The creative project that changed my career…

Eliza> Working on my first fully integrated campaign at Clemenger BBDO for Snickers' 'Hungerithm'. Integration had felt like a buzzword up until then, but it was a real eye-opener (as someone who had only worked on BTL) to witness the agency’s many departments work together. I can see why they won six Golden Lions and agency of the year at Cannes.

LBB> The work that I’m proudest of…

Eliza> As above, but I also loved our shopper extension for Stella Artois’ Australian Open partnership in 2019 at Clems. The campaign involved collaborating with very talented illustrators from around the world, and the artwork was so striking because of that investment in craft.

LBB> I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…

Eliza> I can’t even say. But it was 2015 and Donald Trump was going to be involved.

LBB> The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…

Eliza> Seeing Annie Price building a fierce creative department at Communicado. It’s really exciting to see it grow in strength day by day.