Today we’d like to introduce you to Damian Dayton.
Hi Damian, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
30 years ago, I never thought that I would be making funny commercials and helping grow billion dollar brands. I started at BYU on a path to medical school, I even worked for a year doing medical research at the amazing Huntsman Cancer Institute. But film was always my passion, sneaking it in on weekends, and making long roadtrips to make black and white sci-fi epics that nobody would see.
In the early 2010’s I realized that video was going to quickly become a commodity as phones outpaced the technology I had learned on, both in cameras and editing software. But at the same time I was discovering the way that social media algorithms rewarded highly entertaining videos, even if they were ads. So we started make long funny videos (or very short films, depending on how you look at it). We quickly realized that people are starved for entertainment and will choose to watch a commercial if it entertains, educates or gives them an escape from the stresses of daily life.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I always wanted to make fun and funny TV. I looked up the Jim Henson and the Muppets. But along the way, in the grind to make your first film, first documentary, first children’s show, I lost a little piece of me. Even though I had been nominated for major awards, like Emmy’s and Cine Gold eagles, the prizes didn’t materialize into business success, nor more film projects. When I realized that a career in Television wouldn’t work out for me, I had no idea that I could use my same sense of fun and whimsy like I had seen Jim Henson use, and turn it into profitable campaigns for products that I truly believed in.
Social Media changes everyday. And if business success rides on creating systems, we have had to create systems that not only anticipate change, but consider surprise and change and unexpectedness to be the key constant (and not the variable). We have certainly have had our share of flops, but we have also had an incredible success rate.
The continuing challenge is to continue to innovate when so many think that the volume of “content” matters more than the quality.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I know it’s silly, but we I take great pride in making everybody laugh. Not just a select few.
While I have my own quirky sense of humor, we try to find humor that unites.
In a world that considers creativity to be more an alchemy than a science, I believe we have created a system that helps us learn, in depth, about what makes our clients great, and helps us cultivate a sense of wonder and delight about their brands to create truly memorable pieces.
In a world where so much advertising is disposable, I find fulfillment knowing that I have some ads that are still running longer than my children have been alive. Knowing you that you have helped drive the growth of a business, and jobs and brought great products to market and helped the world know about them is incredibly fulllling.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I love reading speculative fiction, particularly science-fiction, and some fantasy. I find great leadership insights in a book like “The Way of Kings” by Brandon Sanderson, insights on empathy in “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card, and insight and inspiration in both the Holy Bible and The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Christ.
Pricing:
- Starting price (for a campaign) around $30K
- Average Price $200K
- Large projects up to $1M
- Everything is custom with custom pricing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.creatably.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creatably/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Creatably/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damian-dayton-29a6b84/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Creatably
