Eslinger in All Things Interactive

Tom Eslinger, worldwide interactive creative director for Saatchi & Saatchi, was president of the Cyber jury at this year’s Cannes International Advertising Festival. He spoke about the importance of ideas and the growing respect for media as a creative field in an interview with AdWeek. “[M]y biggest challenge is going to be to keep everybody focused on looking for the big ideas that are executed the most brilliantly,” he said. “Somebody will always do a smarter piece of Flash programming next year and there will always be a nicer mobile phone, and there will always be a cooler gadget. The thing I want to look for is the idea that works across a whole bunch of channels and kicks the most ass.” Born in North Dakota and now based in Los Angeles, Eslinger is also a long-time resident of NZ having been Saatchi & Saatchi’s first ever creative director for interactive and emerging technologies, first in Wellington, then Auckland. He founded the Wanganui School of Design in 1987.