'Creative Legends' Podcast: Floyd Hayes, creator of some of the world's best known stunts

This week, our guest on the 'Creative Legends' podcast is Floyd Hayes, creator of some of the world's most memorable stunts.

Floyd is the former founding member and creative director of Cunning London, co-founder/creative director of Cunning NYC, board member of Fearless Agency, and founder/creative director of World's Fastest Agency.

Best known for projecting an image of Gail Porter on the Houses of Parliament for FHM 21 years ago, Floyd Hayes likes a stunt.

Creating imaginative and memorable campaigns, the Gail Porter image was awarded Stunt of the Decade by the BBC.

Guest host Graham Goodkind talks to Floyd about where his ideas come from, what attracted him to the industry, and the work he has been doing ever since.

Interested in music and graffiti, and inspired by the KLF, Floyd started out as a drum and bass journalist. Writing, being a DJ and late nights meant that by the age of 26 he was burned out and looking for something different.

He received a call from a friend who suggested he speak to an agency called Cunning Stunts. Floyd was given a brief for Bizarre magazine and on the basis of his creative flair, got the job.

The agency was the first guerilla marketing agency in Europe in what would now be termed 'experiential'.

Here's what Graham and Floyd chat about:

How Floyd worked on the brief about Lassie coming back to London!

Floyd talks about how the infamous Gail Porter projection on the Houses of Parliament for FHM magazine came about and the resulting controversy 

How Floyd spontaneously launched the 'World's Fastest Agency' built on the 'Blink' philosophy by Malcolm Gladwell

Why Floyd was probably one of the first to use the Thames as a backdrop with the Dockers campaign!

Floyd discusses 'de-familiarisation' as a successful creative theme - making things either bigger or smaller to attract attention

How Floyd worked on the launch of the Mini Cooper car having never worked on a car brand before

Cunning Stunts becomes Cunning and Floyd takes it to New York to set up the agency brand DNA

Floyd talks about living in Brooklyn, New York for 16 years

Floyd and Graham talk about how ideas are received and executed in the US versus the UK in terms of their approach

How Floyd was also the first to sell his voice on eBay! Called 'voice-vertising' the concept was that Floyd would use his voice to shout out a brand name - the idea alone reached 115 million Americans!

Floyd is also famously known as 'the man who sold Brooklyn' when he sold bits of rubble around the city, generating news coverage

How Floyd doesn't "mourn the demise of the office environment" as a result of the pandemic

"To really creatively vibe with someone you need trust" - Floyd talks about relationships with creative partners and agencies and how he likes to work

Cunning ended in 2008 and Floyd now runs Ideas@FloydHayes.com