The Man Behind the Most Interesting Man

Today at Radical Media, we met a man named Steve Miller. As the visit approached the three-hour mark, my ability to absorb waned, but Steve shot a bolt of inspired adrenaline through every Duck in the room.

He introduced himself as a commercial director, but that title that doesn’t come close to encapsulating what all he’s been in his career. As an art director moonlighting as a writer, he invented Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World. Steve’s demeanor betrayed the pedestal he’d earned in my mind - I’d read about him in The Idea Writers, by Teresa Iezzi, who praised him for that very campaign as an example of the inventiveness necessary to stand out in the rapidly shifting media landscape.

Steve stressed the importance of story and concept. No matter how the cool shit reaches the audience, no matter the size of screen, that shit still has to be cool. Producing work people perceive as such, according to Steve, demands that we as creative professionals immerse ourselves in observation. Every waking moment is a chance to take note of human behavior.

- Cameron Kokes