VOTED IN TOP TWENTY!
WHAT AM I DOING HERE
Chiat Day was one of America’s most creative and respected Agencies, and among their work was groundbreaking work for Apple, Nike, and Nissan. Now, they wanted to expand internationally and explore the art and power of the jingle.
As part of the merger, senior executives were invited to their offices in Venice Beach for a meet and greet, and to share show reels of creative work.
Back to Santa Monica!. The Aussies came as a bit of a shock to the Americans; there was little knowledge of the Australian agency amongst the American creative team, and we were very 'Aussie,' very down to earth, and loved a beer!
Permanently parked in the foyer of their office was an old classic surf truck, a 'woody", with longboards hanging out of the back of the tray. Their Creative Director was one of the world's best and a very unassuming, chilled Californian surfer. Their office was great, in a refurbished warehouse, one of the first agencies to have an open plan with only short partitions separating the different creative teams so they could interact. In the middle was a beautiful open-ended wooden structure, shaped like a whale's body, where meetings were held.
The first half of the Creative conference was a presentation by their Creative Director, accompanied by the very stylish owner. Each piece of work evoked the classic emotion in me, "Wish I'd done that"!
After their presentation, genuine secret service agents then filed in and lined the walls, wearing dark suits and dark glasses, to protect the surprise guest speaker...Ronald Reagan!!!! This was his first public appearance since leaving the White House. The Americans believed in doing things 'big'! On huge TV screens around the hall, he seemed more real than the person on the stage!
Next, after lunch, a motley crew wearing bright beach shirts and sunglasses filed in and again lined the walls ... the Aussies' parody of a secret service team to protect the Australian Creative Director who was about to present our reel!
The Aussie humor seemed to go over the confused Americans' heads! They also seemed a bit shocked when a stream of Aussie-style jingles boomed out over the speakers, particularly with the Aussie accent and colloquialisms.
Then, the jingle for a Queensland beer came on, and the hall erupted in laughter at the lyrics:
“I can feel like a FourX coming on”-
Four X is a brand of condom in America!
After the Conference, one of my 'workmates' had friends in New York who had invited us for a quick visit. We got off the plane and headed through neighborhoods that seemed to get grungier and grungier until we arrived in 'Alphabet City', at that time one of New York's roughest areas. Ronald Reagan had many mentally ill patients put back on the street after his budget cuts. We stopped shaving and wore the simplest clothes to go 'incognito' and walked looking down as eye-to-eye contact could lead to a black eye.
We fitted in so well, particularly my friend, who was approached several times for a score
I had done the soundtrack for the "Wrap Commercial" in Melbourne and had used a touring Rap duo as advisors for a fairly authentic sound. They invited me to contact them if ever in New York. Of course I did! Next thing we were at a Rap concert featuring 'Red Alert', who was big on the 'scene' at that time. Visually, it was almost impossible to describe, hundreds and hundreds of rap devotees in varying track suit 'uniforms' denoting which crew, or even gang, they were aligned with, and the most incredible assortment of haircuts in all shapes and sizes.
Shaved and 'smartened up," it was back to Melbourne.
Another shock!
I'm voted in the Top Twenty Australian advertising writers
Campaign Brief was a new Advertising industry magazine, and in its first edition, I had been voted in Australia's top twenty advertising writers.
I was shocked to see my name. I am sure it also gave a few other people a rude shock too!
I felt it was an honour to be recognized in the company of so many people I had seen as mentors and had the utmost respect for.
Sold on a job as CD in a retail agency
The financial crisis had a big effect on advertising; budgets were slashed and transferred from building memorable brands to an emphasis on immediate accountability and selling products. In most cases, hard selling had been seen as a 'lower form of advertising'.
I received a call from the man where I had first worked in his budding retail department. He had built his small retail department into one of the biggest independent retail agencies in the Southern Hemisphere. A legend, he was another classic no bullshit Aussie and highly motivated.
"Mate, I want to talk to you".
In line with shrinking budgets, the meeting wasn't to be in a fancy restaurant. We met discreetly on a park bench in a nearby park, and he said he wanted to make sure in this climate that retail advertising not only sold product but protected and added to the values of the brand: Would we be interested in joining them with this philosophy?
A month later, we were settling into our new offices in a large refurbished factory, housing their own photographic studio to service their clients, and going to work on this hybrid philosophy, a great lesson in accountability and results.
We 'inherited' a great crew of talented people, added a few new faces, and together started to put awards on the wall.
Suddenly, I was slipping and sliding on the 'black ice' coating the streets of London after a snowfall; it looked like I had landed in a beautiful Christmas card..
I had flown to England to launch Sky TV, again, almost as soon as I had walked into a new agency, I was off on an international shoot.
A great honor for an Australian to be chosen in a country overflowing with great creatives.
