From Dazed to Diet Coke, Fred Paginton on creating cultural plays for brands

The idea was a bit out of his comfort zone, but he had just accepted a new role at Spring Studios, as executive creative director, and it all felt a little bit full circle. He decided to go for it but to be fully transparent and real with the students about his journey.

“I didn’t have a formal advertising background and I didn’t have a formal fashion education,” he explains. “It’s really about the references and the things you’re interested in, that circulate your own life, that can kind of cause you to educate yourself and home in on what your point of view is.”

Knowing he had an interest in art and creativity, Paginton’s foray into writing began organically. He would go to shows, interview people and publish his take on blogs, eventually setting up his own zine with a community of like-minded people. It was purely an outlet for his interest, but it landed him an internship at Dazed – the first of two stints at the media company.

“Back when I first joined Dazed, it was a very different company to what it is today, in the sense that it was a totally different era of publishing, even commercially speaking,” says Paginton.

“The creative landscape itself was a lot more hedonistic and singular in its expression — a sort of hangover from the early noughties that was extremely fun, chaotic and creative. This spirit (or ethos) naturally evolved into something new and forward-facing.”

Learning this ‘old school’ way of writing and publishing was great for the young creative and he ended up going to New York to write for the arts zine Bomb Magazine. It was around that time a colleague who had begun working with M&C Saatchi said it was looking for a writer to help concept a content platform, which was a relatively new concept at the time.

“I was like, ‘Oh God, advertising. I don’t really like advertising. It’s not me.’ What I didn't realize at the time was that there was a convergence of culture and commerce.

“Simple thing is, brands were trying to make more cultural plays and what happened was there people like me who had a point of view, had an interest, had reference points, that were then used as creatives to come up with concepts and write.”

Having that layer of authenticity about the advertising work he was starting to create drew Paginton in. From there, he dove headfirst into the world of art direction and filmmaking.

“The experience of going into a big advertising agency was quite jarring, but also at the same time you feel like you’re doing a proper job. When you’re in a magazine or a small studio, you feel that you make it up as you go along, which, again, speaks truth to me in many ways.”

After seven months at M&C Saatchi, Paginton moved on to roles at Whitewall Magazine, Tag Worldwide and U-Dox before returning to Dazed in 2019, where he would stay for nearly five years. Reflecting on his return to Dazed, Paginton credits Jefferson Hack, the co-founder and chief executive officer, as a major mentor who gave him a great deal of trust and autonomy.

“He saw me as his kind of right-hand person, in a way, to really concept the advertising and the commercial prospects and just coming up really big ideas. He puts a lot of faith in the next generation of new talent.”

One of the standout projects from Paginton’s time at Dazed was his work for Moncler, which also happened to be his final creation at the studio. The campaign, ‘An Invitation to Dream,’ took place during Milan’s Design Week and involved a full takeover of Stazione Centrale. This transformed one of the city’s busiest intersections into a massive public gallery, all with a single goal – to invite people to dream.

Paginton says that he loves crafting multi-dimensional pieces of work that take audiences on unexpected journeys. “For me, you have to set up strategically. So, I’m in there with the strategies, coming up with an interesting thought that we’ve delved out from somewhere. I’m quite narrative-driven. I like finding what that passion point is from an audience.”

His final project at Dazed coincided with a move to Spring Studios, self-described as a ‘multi-hyphenate creative house’ that has produced work for the likes of Marni, Victoria Beckham and Mulberry.

Paginton says that Spring was always this “big shiny thing” in the industry, where premium brands were going to at one point. “I feel like [Spring] can reclaim its status, just with the right approach. Everything I’ve learned from my background in reaching new audiences, working with more agile brands, I feel like if I can bring that to Spring. It has the capability to reach an elevated status and channel a new era. But that’s still staying true to its core of being this aspirational place for brands to come and make something happen.”

Just a month or two after Paginton started at Spring, an exciting new project with Diet Coke came his way. The brand was introducing a new celebrity ambassador to replace Kate Moss, giving Paginton the perfect opportunity to dive in.

“Jamie Dornan is the new Diet Coke man, but we’ve taken a more unexpected angle. It’s a fun take or a reaction to certain ideas of what a Diet Coke man like Jamie Dornan might be.”

From the mid-90s to the early 2000s, the brand famously aired its iconic ‘Diet Coke Break’ ads, featuring nearly naked men sipping the fizzy drink while women looked on with longing. In contrast, this new spot takes a completely different approach.

The team worked alongside Bardia Zeinali, whose work also includes Sabrina Carpenter’s Please Please Please video, to direct the ad. “He’s one of the best at subverting and creating statements and taking on iconic things,” explains Paginton.

“And he was really passionate about Diet Coke, he’s a fan. Diet Coke only speaks to fans of Diet Coke.”

Paginton explains that Diet Coke has a stylish connection to the world of fashion, which is what drew him to the project. This marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the brand.

In the future, he says that Spring wants to attract a new wave of premium luxury brands to work with. “I feel energized by that. It’s really about how we can create a tie between those luxury brands and the aspirational mass market brands,” he says.

“That’s why they’re coming to Spring, they’re coming to have that more elevated artistic output or craft, that’s going to be something which has a statement, has a point of view about fashion or products, or how it plays in culture.”

Read more from our My Creative Career series.