Growing up, there were two constants in Tom Dunn’s life - his love of Everton and his love of creativity, both continuing today. Raised in the North West of England, Tom spent his days finding the balance between solving maths and coding problems and drawing, designing and playing music. These were the passions that ultimately shaped his career path today.
After finishing university, he left for London with just a laptop and the Adobe Suite, during which time he was briefly contracting at a production and sound studio in Soho. Yet the knowledge that he wanted to start something new underpinned everything he was doing.
“There was a defunct network cupboard in the basement of the building, an old townhouse, which I converted into a space to work from. Possibly the smallest office in the West End, but a prime location to advertise and pick up creative work, from brand identities to interactive websites, launch campaigns to album covers,” Tom says.
The budgets were understandably modest, but for Tom this was the chance to work with diverse clients and begin to tackle real marketing briefs while developing his craft. As the work began to grow, he started building the business with a scalable network of creative talent. This is when the opportunity to work with Google came along and he he joined the company’s Creative Lab.
This all led to over 15 years of experience running businesses, building teams worldwide, and delivering award-winning creative marketing. Some of the brands Tom’s worked with include Google, YouTube, Samsung and Netflix.
Today, Tom heads up global digital agency Toaster, which he started in 2010. LBB’s Zoe Antonov spoke to him to find out about the company’s expansion and Tom’s vision for its the future.
LBB> What was your time at Google’s Creative Lab like; what did that experience teach you and look like?
Tom> I started working in the Creative Lab in the summer of 2008, Google had approx 350 people in London and was growing rapidly. Despite being almost ten years old at the time, it was really only beginning its marketing journey. It was a unique time and place to be, offering an invaluable perspective on the shifting marketing landscape from inside one of the fastest growing tech brands in the world.
The Creative Lab brought together designers, writers, animators, editors, coders… under the guidance of two brilliant creative minds: Tea Uglow and, later, Steve Vranakis. As a young creative, I was fortunate to be working with like-minded people on groundbreaking projects for global audiences, with less structure than you’d probably expect. We were encouraged to explore ideas, be ‘brand guardians’ and create work that pushed boundaries, alongside some exceptionally smart people in Google’s marketing teams.
LBB> What have been some memorable projects from those years in your career?
Tom> We were fortunate to work on projects that showed the power of leading products and platforms of the time to bring people together, to create, build and play. Some memorable projects include ‘YouTube Space Lab’ with NASA; ‘Life in a Day’ with Ridley Scott; ‘YouTube Symphony Orchestra’ with Michael Tilson Thomas; and ‘Web Lab’ with the Science Museum.
Briefs spanned across many products including Search, YouTube, AdWords, Maps and major product launches for Chrome, StreetView and Google+. We also worked on educational and tech-for-good initiatives - ‘Google Art Project’, a democratisation and digitisation of content from the world’s best museums and galleries; and ‘L'Aquila’, a platform powered by StreetView to plot the restoration of a town in Italy following a devastating earthquake.
LBB> When did you start Toaster and what has the journey been like?
Tom> We started Toaster at the end of 2010. The journey has had all the ups and downs you'd expect given our growth, global footprint, and some interesting times in the world. As a founder / director of an independent business, you never fully switch off, and the more taxing challenges naturally rise to the top, so you're constantly learning and building experience.
I'm enjoying the focus of my role today and proud of the platform we’ve built for the next phase of the business. We have a brilliant leadership team and growing teams of extremely talented people around the world. We’ve also brought in some experienced advisors, adding valuable guidance as the agency evolves - it’s exciting to see where we can take it in the future!
LBB> How does Toaster help brands connect with a digital generation? Where do brands usually fail when they try to do this on their own?
Tom> Toaster was born from digital, and our long-standing history alongside Google and Alphabet gives us a unique perspective into the tech sector and product marketing. We deliver fresh ideas built on cultural, and data-driven insights that help brands connect with target audiences. Technology powers our creative output, with AI-enabled tools and processes that enable us to amplify creative output and drive scale. Our teams build and prototype with new technologies to ensure our clients stay ahead.
We work as an extension of in-house marketing teams, and the balance of this relationship allows us to move at pace and help brands innovate. Working in silo, in-house teams are too close to the brand to truly innovate or challenge at each stage of the process, and traditional agency models often bring extra layers and steps that can cause friction, inefficiency and a lack of alignment.
LBB> What are some current or recent projects that you are super excited about and why? What have been some challenges on those?
Tom> Our teams are producing some exciting and award-winning work with our clients, to connect with new audiences and help achieve their marketing goals.
Here’s a snapshot of recent work from Toaster teams around the world:
Jigsaw - ‘Pre-bunking’. A challenge for some educational campaigns is the need to be effective and relevant across multiple markets, this is a great example of the thinking and craft needed to pull it off.
Google - ‘Data GIF Maker’. We tackled the challenge of rapidly visualising data sets with a beautifully simple and easy to use tool.
Tinder - ‘You Up?’. Sixty one million YouTube views and counting… challenging perspectives on gen z dating while seamlessly showcasing key product features.
Netflix - Product Marketing Partnership. Solving product marketing challenges with customer journeys, insights, marketing assets, and even visualising the future of the product.
LBB> What is your favourite thing about the industry and your role within it?
Tom> My favourite thing about the industry is that it’s rapidly evolving. As an independent, we’re creating our own path in a landscape of long established names, and as the market shifts there’s a growing trend for brands to recognise the value of working with agencies like Toaster.
Bringing diverse minds and new technologies together cultivates fresh, insight-driven ideas and executions that cut through the noise - an increasingly valuable commodity for brands today. In my role, I’m fortunate to work with many talented people across different cultures, to keep improving value to our clients and to push the agency forward.
LBB> And what do you find needs improvement within your sphere? How do you use your position of leadership to move it into a better direction?
Tom> Setting up the next generation for success – there are a number of challenges to this. Education is a key factor – when I was growing up, the creative industry wasn’t high on the school careers list, and even today, academic careers still take centre stage. More can be done to provide a clearer path and help nurture young creative talent.
Secondly, inclusivity and support for underprivileged parts of society. At Toaster, we’ve supported initiatives such as creative DE&I events, and donating laptops to young people with limited access. There is much more to be done in this sphere and I’ll continue to use my own platform, alongside Toaster, to help drive awareness and positive change.
Finally, the lasting implications of AI on our industry and impact on the next generation raises ethical questions that should be considered alongside economics.
LBB> What are your hobbies and passions outside of work?
Tom> I like to keep busy and two young kids definitely help with that and provide a different perspective.
When time allows I enjoy creative projects involving design, photography, writing or music. Since the pandemic I’ve a renewed appreciation for things ‘in real life’ away from screens, and try to carve more time for those who need support.
As a lifelong Everton fan, I arguably get more enjoyment from playing football than watching - capped off with a perfectly poured post-match Guinness.
