A conversation with Hook's leadership team
“Test and adapt” is one of our central driving forces at Hook, and nowhere is that more evident than our department leads. With their fresh perspectives and bold visions, we caught up with many of our fearless leaders to discuss their plans for the future and how they’re leading the charge in today’s ever-evolving advertising world.
Let’s start with introductions. If you could tell a client one thing about your department, what would it be?
"We’re versatile. From talented illustrators, 3D artists, brand identity designers, artists who work in style frames, and interaction designers—we have high-level talent across such a wide range of work types that we can essentially tackle any type of design challenge, all in-house, with world-class results." — Mikell Fine Iles, Executive Design Director
"New technology has driven our organization since the beginning of time and AI is the next step in that evolution. It will help make great ideas possible, but not replace our human-driven inspiration. My role is to make sure we utilize the tools as they best suit our people." — Nick Watts, Chief AI Officer
"The Production team at Hook is like having a utility knife in your back pocket. Our client partners trust us to advise, strategize, and execute on campaigns, of course, but also challenges outside the typical creative scope. Our producers and clients are long-term, close collaborators who have followed each other all over this industry." — Stephany Sperberg, Managing Director
If I were to highlight one exciting aspect of our Operations team for a client, it would be our passion for powering the essential back-end systems and programs that bring our vision to life. The Finance, Accounting & Business Affairs (FAB) team ensures that all our projects are fiscally sound and compliant, directly enhancing project sustainability and client trust. Meanwhile, our People Operations (POps) team is dedicated to aligning the promise of our work environment with the real employee experience at Hook, ensuring an engaged team supports our clients. — Bonnie Charette, Executive Operations Director
"The Creatives at Hook love to solve challenges—from finding innovative ways to solve client briefs, to more logistical things, like discovering workflows to become more efficient, devising solutions that work within shifting budgets, and planning ahead for success on projects that will change often during the production phase. We don't receive a brief and vanish for several weeks, only to resurface and present our approach. Instead, we collaborate intimately with our clients through every step, assisting them in resolving various issues that arise along the way and involving them in our creative process. We devote as much care and attention to solving last-minute additions to the media plan as we do to our initial creative concepts." — Tim Harkins, Executive Creative Director
"Motion Designers are avid problem solvers. We’re often tasked with figuring out how all the pieces fit together and, in many cases, there isn’t an obvious path forward to how that’s achieved. That being the case, we’re experimenting during projects and in our downtime to learn new things. Doing so helps us find the balance between honoring the creative vision and executing at the highest level possible." — Martin Slomka, Executive Motion Director
"Joie de faire. Every Hook producer puts a lot of themselves into the work, designing the strongest team, the most comfortable space for communication, the smoothest project process, and the coolest outcomes. We are also a department that really exalts collaboration, internally and externally." — Iza Hatfield, Managing Director
Thinking big picture here, what's your vision for the future of your department? What are things your team is focusing on this year, or over the next two years?
"One of the big focuses for this and next year is on education, which can mean how information travels in our organization but also inviting external perspectives into our hive. As a department, when we combine a voracious appetite for learning with creative and business problem-solving, we have a real ability to help our teams produce incredible creative work for our clients (and we can’t get enough of that)." — Iza Hatfield, Managing Director
"Our teams are committed to continuous improvement, actively refining our processes for peak performance. This year, the FAB team is developing dynamic reporting tools to provide real-time, actionable insights, while the POps team is refining our new manager toolkit and enhancing our employer brand strategy by forging partnerships with organizations like Women Who Create and The One Club. Each initiative is part of our broader strategy to inject more energy, efficiency, and enthusiasm into our operations, making our agency a place where creativity and results merge, and where everyone is eager to log in each day." — Bonnie Charette, Executive Operations Director
"Our team is focusing on how we can build and implement AI tooling to help all areas of the business achieve their goals faster and easier." — Chris Watts, Chief Technology Officer
How is the creative department adapting to emerging technologies and trends, while also emphasizing the importance of human collaboration?
"I’ll touch on two different areas here: The first topic is something that is probably a bit obvious: AI. As we witness daily advancements in AI, the Creative Department is exploring ways to incorporate it into the conceptual phase of a project. This includes AI-generated images that complement found-imagery moodboards, AI tools for research and competitive analysis, and even brainstorming sessions with a chat-based AI. The creative phase of a project presents a safe environment to test and implement these adjustments to existing workflows.
The second topic revolves around the more human element of feedback and communication. We are taking this next year to re-examine our feedback process. While everyone will maintain their unique style of delivering feedback, we aim to address the extremes. Specifically, discouraging vague feedback or generic compliments that lack direction for improving the work. On the other end of the spectrum, we want to avoid overly prescriptive feedback that stifles the creativity and problem-solving abilities of our subject matter experts in other departments. We believe that great solutions or ideas can come from anywhere, so we need to be receptive to ideas, practice active listening, and help develop those ideas into something effective for our clients." — Tim Harkins, Executive Creative Director
We’re keeping our eyes peeled for the latest and greatest in our space. What would you say are some of the biggest motion and design trends in the advertising industry right now, and how do you see Hook staying ahead of the curve?
"There are several trends in design right now—generative art textures, internet-inspired design, handmade aesthetics, gradients, kinetic type treatments. Aside from looking at what’s gaining recognition and winning awards, we have an open forum of continued dialogue within the department about what we’re consuming for inspiration, how we’re developing our skills, and how we’re refining our techniques to keep our tools sharp. An overarching methodology for Hook, especially within design, is the mix of craft and creativity, being able to ideate and execute visual concepts that tackle both the client brief and what the audience needs. Additionally, we’re always looking to add more experts to round out our craft skills and meet the needs of our brand partners." — Mikell Fine Iles, Executive Design Director
"The motion trends are evolving daily. Whether it’s mograph tools being integrated into Unreal Engine 5, browser-based interactive animation with Rive, or a number of other promising applications still early in their life cycle, the motion design community has more tools than ever to drive creativity to new and interesting places. We stay ahead of the curve by continuing to create space that allows us to regularly experiment with these tools internally." — Martin Slomka, Executive Motion Director
We always say that “we make cool things,” and we mean it—we hear it from our clients, chat about it with our teams, and see the results firsthand in our award-winning work. What do you think makes Hook’s approach to creative execution unique?
"The team is able to handle everything from anthemic spots to social posts to websites to UI-heavy storyboards to animated explainer videos to branding development and even figuring out how to promote experimental technology. The list goes on and on. Each team member has a unique perspective and it comes through in their approach to solving challenges when they arise." — Ryan Michlitsch, Executive Creative Director
"I love discussing this topic because I believe it boils down to caring deeply, which is admittedly difficult to quantify and must come from each individual. Many people in our industry care about the craft, but do they care as much about the brand's success? This is the magic formula that yields incredible results. It is this combination of brand stewardship and dedication to the craft that prevents small mistakes and encourages people to consider various paths to success to maximize gains. We make cool things, and we make them to be as effective as possible." — Tim Harkins, Executive Creative Director
AI is transforming all industries, and advertising is no exception. Where do you see the intersection of AI and creativity heading in the next few years, and what’s our approach to the changing landscape?
"AI will be an amazing creative assistant, allowing individuals to explore ideas to depths never before thought possible. But, those ideas still need to be grounded in tangible principles and not exceed the overall goals of the brand. There is no doubt AI can generate ideas faster than any technology we have seen. But that does not mean those ideas are perfect. We will leverage AI for what it is good for, but continue to lean on our amazingly creative people to steer work in the right direction." — Nick Watts, Chief AI Officer
"It will likely be a while before we see generative AI drastically shift how Motion Designers are doing things. Yes, we’re seeing a lot of incredible imagery and moving pictures coming out of generative AI, but there are a lot of legal restrictions at the moment. There are, however, other, less flashy tools being released that are making motion designers and editors' lives easier. Integrations into Adobe’s software and several third party releases like Topaz are using AI to support creativity and problem solving as well as make tedious tasks more manageable." — Martin Slomka, Executive Motion Director
What's one piece of thinking you'd like to see the industry embrace going forward?
"I’d like to see the industry embrace more change, more often. The world shifts and sways with such frequency now, I’d love to see marketers and agencies build relationships specifically designed to leverage flexibility and adaptability." — Stephany Sperberg, Managing Director
"The way people consume content has changed significantly over the past decade, and we have to acknowledge that. For large brands, one-off creative assets or platform-specific campaigns can have just as much potential, if not more, than traditional 360-degree campaigns, especially for younger demographics. Such concepts leverage the strengths and trends of those platforms instead of being restricted by the overarching idea. While people still desire authentic content, authenticity will look significantly different on broadcast media compared to each unique social channel. And authenticity on social does not exclusively mean influencer-led campaigns." — Tim Harkins, Executive Creative Director
"As clients push further and further into social media as a means of marketing, there’s this idea that the marketing material should blend in with the trends of the platform. This means making creative feel more raw, more user-generated. I see a time and a place for that approach, but I also see how creative like that gets lost in the mix and ignored. I think it’s good to recognize what’s trending and why, but I think we should be applying that to the idea and not necessarily the visual presentation. Agencies have so many talented artists, I say use their expertise and skill to make work that is beautiful and stands out in the feed." — Martin Slomka, Executive Motion Director
We're in a unique position because we can tell stories and make things visually interesting for people to pay attention to. We communicate messages and ideas, and I think the ideas that deserve more attention are some of the existential issues facing humanity—the climate crisis, war, inequality. And not just nationally, but globally. It feels like we’re so laser-focused on getting through each week, but there are so many issues that deserve more attention from our creative voices, and I’d love to see them amplified. — Mikell Fine Iles, Executive Design Director
"You will rarely catch me willing to reduce anything to a ‘top one’, but I think the industry has made strides into some really socially-meaningful (humanistic) territories in the past decade. I believe that will only grow stronger, and (adjacently) I hope we are collectively inspired to use frontier technologies to get personal and not the opposite." — Iza Hatfield, Managing Director
Looking ahead
These are just a few of the visionary leaders steering Hook's growth trajectory. Their insights, along with the talent of every team member, are vital in keeping Hook the trusted creative partner behind so many of our favorite brands. We’re excited to continue pushing boundaries and redefining what’s possible in advertising.
Want to see our creative vision in action? Check out some of our latest work here.