On My Radar: Pete Chambers

What’s the best ad campaign you’ve seen recently?

I really liked the new Sainsbury ads, even though if you’d described them to me I probably would have hated the idea. The execution is spot on and that erases any cringe factor.

What website(s) do you use most regularly and why?

Sad to say it’s BBC News and Sport. I also lurk on Facebook but I’m a bit too shy to join in most of the time

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought and why?

Not a massive techy but I’m about to buy one of those huge iPhone 7’s if that counts?

What’s your favoured social media platform?

Again, it’s not a massive part of my (personal) life. I see the need for social in what I do professionally and my daughter makes a living from it... but I’d rather read a book to be honest.

What’s your favourite app on your phone?

Uber.

What’s your favourite TV show and why?

Ooh! Now, TV I do like and we are blessed in the UK with such an amazing set of terrestrial channels as well as all the new stuff like Sky, Netflix etc.

Can I have two choices? One from the BBC, Planet Earth and one from Netflix, House of Cards. Both are totally brilliant in their own way.

What film do you think everyone should have seen and why?

[WWII documentary] Night Will Fall. So that it doesn’t happen again.

Where were you when inspiration last struck?

In bed.

What’s the most significant change you’ve witnessed in the industry since you started working in it?

The democratisation of the whole process. Things are not what they were, but equally, the future is incredibly exciting. As much as we (well, me) moan about how things aren’t like the old days, there are so many astounding possibilities and opportunities arising every day that you’d be a fool not to embrace the change that is happening.

If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?

I’d make everyone hold huge cuddly toys throughout PPMs. It’d make people think twice before saying something overly pompous.

What or who has most influenced your career and why?

I think the biggest influence on my career was the birth of MTV Europe in 1987. I was already working in music videos but for big, global acts like Genesis and Bon Jovi. The advent of the European network suddenly meant that we were expected to pump out much more content and visuals that had a radically different look to the standard ‘rock n’ roll’ fare of MTV US.  

It empowered European talent as never before and led me to work with some amazingly talented people. And let’s face it, we can’t do without those can we?

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people won’t know.

I used to work for Michael McIntyre’s dad (on The Kenny Everett Show, below) and then, once he grew up, Michael came to work for me as a runner in the early days of Partizan. A very funny story about that time is included in his autobiography.