FRENCH KISS OF DEATH

CB asked Jeneal Rohrback, creative director of Young & Rubicam, Auckland, to respond to the outrageous comments made by WPP worldwide CD Neil French in Canada last month.....

It made my blood boil after reading the AdAge article where Neil French says,” Women don’t make it to the top because they don’t deserve to”, “They’re crap” and “They wimp out and suckle something”.

I then slept on it (badly) and woke up with a slightly milder thought in my head – How could such a brilliant man be so stupid?

Why would he say what he said?

Things rolled around in my head for a couple more days, as I got more and more confused (and pissed off) about what I should do about it. I told Michael Lynch over the phone, “I’m tired of talking about the same old advertising sexism issues to no avail, and if I was going to talk about it again I needed a new spin on it. Nobody will listen unless I come at it from another angle – especially the guys”.

Then I thought BULLSHIT! What Neil French thinks is embarrassingly wrong and I’m not going to pussy foot round. I want to tell him exactly how I feel.

There are some fabulously talented female creative directors out there like Rosie Arnold and Kate Stanners in the UK, Emma Hill in Australia, and Lara Palmer in Canada, just to name a few. And guess what? Rosie and Kate have had babies and being mothers didn’t ruin their careers. In fact it probably made them better. It certainly did for me.

My point being that they’ve managed to build their advertising acumen and reputations, AND have a balanced life too. They can juggle the kids, washing up, grocery shopping and their careers and are still very much intact. These everyday things are what makes an ad person stay in touch with real life. These are the things we need to understand so we can understand people (our audience) out there. It’s the only way we can do our job properly. Other interesting prongs to this argument are that women make most of the purchasing decisions in this country and earn 82% of men’s earnings, but I’ll save that for another article. So, not only does having a more balanced life help our job, it helps our families and us.

Because the flip side of having this balance can be a life full of constant rows over working late, lies, divorce, philandering, alcohol & drug abuse, unhealthy egos & competitiveness, neglected partners & children, and the list goes on and on.

This might sound like I’m exaggerating, but I know you all know what I’m talking about. We’ve all had our fair share of the list above. But things are changing, albeit slowly. Women (and some men) don’t want this fucked- up life. In fact, that’s probably the answer to why a lot of women leave advertising in the end.

Neil also says that if you can’t commit 100% to your job don’t pretend you can. Nobody deserves a job unless they can commit.

Well that depends on your definition of 100% commitment. Mine is that you are doing your job 100% if you’re leading a balanced life whilst you’re doing the hard yards at work. I suspect that Mr French’s is very different to mine, and is probably about being obsessively focused on nothing but the ad business. In my mind this is a loss of focus. It’s what will distance you from people in the end. You have no real sense of what makes people tick. What they feel, want and needs . And Neil demonstrated this loss of connection when he blurted out his self-centred views on ad women the other day.

Life has moved on to a better place Mr French - a place where we can still be brilliant at our jobs and take our kids to the cinema once in a while. And if anyone is crap it’s you, for exacerbating this attitude instead of trying to change it.

NB: I’m writing this on a Sunday and I’m going to stop now so I can go to the shops and spend some time with my family and friends. How crap is that?

JWT SYDNEY CONFIRMS HUNTER APPOINTMENT

JWT Sydney has finally confirmed the appointment of Mick Hunter (pictured) as Creative director and Ian Morton as head of art, as well as announcing that Kate Walker will be the agency's general manager, reporting to JWT Australia and NZ managing director Mike Connaghan.
Walker has been with JWT since April 2004 and was initially appointed to head up the Vodafone business.
Hunter and Morton will join from Whybin TBWA Sydney at the end of the year after finishing several major projects. He has been CD at Whybins for only a year, after a decade as senior writer at The Campaign Palace, Sydney.
At The Palace he was responsible for such highly acclaimed campaigns as
the Westpac “Athlete’s Parents” Olympic campaign and the “Red Meat. Feel Good” campaign which won the 2003 Gold Pinnacle at the AFA Effectiveness Awards.
Says JWT Worldwide Chief Creative Officer Craig Davis: “JWT is constantly looking for people who’ve done great work. But, while their track record proves their expertise, their orientation needs to be more about the future than the past. They also need to be really good human beings. Mick and Ian fit the bill perfectly”.
Says Hunter: “It’s great to be on the ground floor of something that’s got such great potential”.

THE BRAND AND 303 BEEF UP CREATIVE OFFERING

Perth shops The Brand Agency and 303 have both gone outside of Australia to make senior appointments to their creative departments.

The Brand Agency has appointed Jamie McTavish as creative director as a replacement for Roy Phillips, who transferred to their Melbourne office about six months ago. McTavish has a long and awarded history in the eastern states, and most recently worked in Asia on the Mercedes Benz account as the ECD of Batey RedCell in Kuala Lumpur.

McTavish is West Australian by birth and began his career in 1986 working at Saatchi & Saatchi London under the direction of Charles Saatchi and Paul Arden. “After stints at Bozell and Arc International I took up role of Regional Creative Director for Publicis in charge of the Middle East and North Africa with the intention of coming back to Australia with a small fortune, instead I blew the lot having the time of my life and came back with nothing more than a good suntan.”

He worked at Saatchi & Saatchi and Clemenger BBDO in Sydney before heading up to Asia. With a young family to consider, McTavish jumped at the chance to join The Brand Agency when approached. He has won Silvers at the Campaign Press and Poster awards and has had work accepted at One show, D&AD, Creative Circle, and Clio.

Joining 303 is London creative team Mike Sequeira and Mark Fretton. The duo arrive from Publicis UK where they worked on Müller Yogurts, MFI kitchens, Renault cars, HP computers amongst others. 303 has been courting Fretton and Sequeira for over six months and they have been freelancing for 303 from London in the time taken for their immigration to come through.

Before moving to Publicis Fretton began his career at Saatchi & Saatchi London, where he created an ad for Club 18-30 that picked up D&AD Silver, Creative Circle bronze and a CIMTIG Gold. He also won a Best Advertisement Gold at the Regional Press Awards for Army Recruitment and convinced Playtex to shoot Helena Christensen in 3d for an interactive talking Adshel.

Sequeira started his advertising life at McCann-Erickson working on automotive brands. Eight years ago he moved to Publicis, London where he was paired up with Fretton as an experiment. It worked and they have been a team ever since. The thought of moving to Perth first came about around six months ago when they met up with Sequeira’s old McCann CEO Dean Lovett, who was very familiar with Perth.

“It was he who suggested working in Perth. I said Scotland seemed a bit far to go for a job! Dean told me all about 303 and it felt just like the sort of mean and lean agency that we wanted to work for. 303 set us the task of doing a launch campaign for Ikea, which we did in Mark’s spare bedroom via email. The campaign was well received and 303 kindly offered us jobs and sponsorship,” said Sequeira. “After a week at 303 it’s been refreshing to be in an environment where everybody just rolls up their sleeves and gets on with creating good advertising. It’s great to see our concepts being converted into ads and not disappearing into the ether of research and focus groups.”

COUNTDOWN TO THE 2005 AWARD SMACKDOWN

For the first time in 27 years AWARD will announce Agency of the Year, Agency Network of the Year, and Client of the Year at the AWARD WIDE WORLD OF WRESTLING Presentation Dinner on Friday evening, November 11 to be held at Wharf 8 in Sydney.
Come and be part of the biggest agency challenge yet, a wrestling competition between the top 8 agencies followed by a play off of the top 3 agency networks.
Finalists in Agency of the Year are: Colenso BBDO Auckland, George Patterson Partners Melbourne, MTC Auckland, Ogilvy & Mather Singapore, Publicis Mojo Auckland, Publicis Mojo Sydney, Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland and Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney.
Finalists in Agency Network of the Year are: BBDO, Publicis Mojo, and Saatchi & Saatchi.
For bookings (tables of 10 available) phone +612 9281 8004 or email Kathy@awardonline.com

MOK TAKES CD GIG AT FCB AUCKLAND

FCB New Zealand has appointed James Mok as creative director, after the departure of Oliver Maisey, who will be joining M&C Saatchi Auckland as ECD in January.
Mok will lead a creative department which includes Matt Simpkins and Murray Watt.
Mok joined FCB earlier this year following a long period at Generator where he was Creative Director and subsequently Strategic Director. A co-founder of Generator in 1995, Mok also held senior creative positions at Saatchi & Saatchi.

CHE MELBOURNE LURES RALPHSMITH FROM ASIA

CHE Melbourne has snared award-winning senior writer Richard Ralphsmith, who has spent the last three years in Singapore, firstly as Creative Group Head at Batey Red Cell, before taking on consulting roles at TBWA and Ogilvy. His recent work on Mercedes Benz, the Red Cross and Revival Centre Church was recognised with five nods at the One Show and two at Cannes, and garnered numerous local awards in Singapore.
Ralphsmith was keenly pursued by a number of agencies in the region before accepting the appointment.
“In addition to partnering with myself, Richard will be working across the department in my drive to raise overall creative standards,” said CHE creative director Jason Ross (picture left).
“I’m thrilled to be at CHE, an exciting agency with enormous talent and potential,” said Ralphsmith (pictured right).
“It’s fantastic to be in a position to make a big contribution to the overall creative output of the agency.”

JWT SYDNEY CD SPECULATION CONTINUES

CB believes there are several clues as to who will be the new CD of JWT Sydney, to replace Simon Collins: Providing they are not red herrings, we already think we know it is a male and believe he is currently a CD or holds a senior creative gig at a Sydney agency and according to Craig Davis, would be "Reasonably big news". Now CB hears "he is in his early 40s", according to one (perhaps dodgy) overheard conversation. Now if that is not a red herring, and seeing as it's coming up to the Melbourne Cup, contenders from the Top 10 creative agencies in Sydney would include Whybin TBWA's Mick Hunter (pictured). Hunter emphatically denies he has been approached by JWT, but he would be CB's first pick if we were betting. Another thought is Pete Buckley, currently head of art at Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney. Davis might like to pinch someone from his old network and Buckley was also ex Young & Rubicam, a WPP shop, for almost a decade, so that may be a factor. (Buckley is currently in hospital having an operation, so we will ask him once he comes around and switches on his mobile!)
Another name that someone suggested was Craig 'Moose' Moore, the former Palace Sydney senior writer now at Clemenger BBDO, Sydney. An interesting outside chance would be Euro's creative director, Dale Rhodes (who has denied being contacted for the job).
Speculation on the AdNews site that Matt Eastwood, who recently departed the national CD gig at Y&R USA, would be getting the gig was denied by Davis as he was departing Sydney on Friday afternoon. He told CB the candidate was currently in Sydney, and of course, we trust our Craig.

BAYLIS AND MAISEY TO JOIN M&C SAATCHI

M&C Saatchi New Zealand has snared Nick Baylis and Oliver Maisey (below left) from FCB Auckland. Baylis will come in as CEO and Maisey as executive creative director, in the new year. Both will also have equity in M&C Saatchi. The move does not affect the role of current M&C Saatchi Auckland CD, Rob Jack (above left), who will report to Maisey. The latter will be working with Bailis to expand the business in both Auckland and Wellington (where M&C has a small office).
“It’s a huge coup for us. We are absolutely thrilled. Nick will further build our great team and his record of growing businesses speaks for itself," says Asia Pacific executive chairman Tom Dery.
“And to enhance our creative team with Oliver’s outstanding talent is fantastic. We wanted to find New Zealanders who didn’t just manage the agency, but who were part of the business.”
Baylis said the opportunity to work for the Saatchi brothers was an opportunity too good to miss.
“M&C Saatchi is an exciting, youthful network that has an amazing brand,” he said.
Baylis, who comes from a year-long stint at FCB, was a co-founder of Generator before selling it to Bates. He ran Generator Bates for three years. Before that, he worked at Saatchi & Saatchi and Colenso in New Zealand.
Before FCB, Aussie expat Maisey had been directing commercials after departing Generator, Auckland where he was CD.
Meanwhile, who will be replacing Baylis and Maisey at FCB is yet to be decided. The creative department already includes top people like James Mok, Murray Watt (probably the best contender to replace Maisey's role) and Matt Simpkins.

THE CREATIVE DIRECTORS MAKE A COMBACK

Two prominent Creative Directors, who opted out of mainstream advertising after selling their Agencies, have established a new Sydney-based consultancy called The Creative Directors.

Phil Atkinson (right), founding partner of Sydney agency BAM (later BAM/SSB) in the late 1980’s, joins Julian Smith (left), founding partner of CCS (later CCSO&M), established in Melbourne around the same time. The pair were earlier concurrent Creative Directors of DDB, in Sydney and Melbourne.

“It was hard to believe that nobody else in the world had claimed the website domain name www.thecreativedirectors.com,” says Atkinson. “Given that we felt the most contemporary way to position a consultancy with a prospect territory in Australia and Asia was via the web, the name fitted so we didn’t hesitate to grab it.”

Still one of Australia’s most awarded art directors, Atkinson sees The Creative Directors as a flexible structure offering marketers, PR companies and advertising agencies access to mature and experienced strategic thinking and creative development skills -- something he feels clients want more of in 2005.

“We know that advertising has changed a lot in recent years,” admits Atkinson. “It’s now much more fluid and fragmented, with tighter margins and a lot more accountability. Arguably though, neither does it have the absolute spread of talent and experience that it had maybe five or ten years ago. Together, Julian and I have worked on upwards of 120 mainstream brands, so there are few categories in which we don’t have solid experience.”

Looking to channel his energies into other creative projects, Atkinson earlier this year left Australian Spirit, the unique affinity credit card concept he conceived and co-founded four years ago. Smith still had one leg in advertising -- he’d been directing TV commercials through Melbourne film production house Black Cat Films, while writing feature films and a sitcom, “Adland”, set in an ad agency.

“Getting any production up in Australia these days isn’t easy or quick,” says Smith ruefully. “But at least now it’s easier to get your TV ad off the ground: there aren’t too many creative teams around who can take a project from communication strategy through creative development, on to production and film directing and right up to completion. That’s just one economy of scale we can offer through The Creative Directors.”

“But we have a lot more than just creative skills to offer,” adds Atkinson. “Especially given our business track records – we both played significant roles in building agencies and later sold them successfully to multinationals. Our suite of services includes everything from training, to keynote speaking to business consulting. And we’re happy to travel, too!”


For further details: www.thecreativedirectors.com
Or call: Phil Atkinson 0438-166191; Julian Smith 0419-103234.

SAATCHI'S BACKS MIAMI AD SCHOOL'S ASIA CAMPUS LAUNCH

Miami Ad School, the international college for aspiring creatives, is to launch its first Asian campus in Shanghai next year.
The school, which already has branches in the US and Europe, is setting up in China with the help of the country's largest agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, which has agreed to help sponsor the first batch of students and help recruit the first teachers.
The Saatchi & Saatchi Miami Ad School concept has been driven by Saatchis regional boss Jim O'Mahony (who was in Sydney last week) and CB hears premises has already been provided with help from the Chinese government. The school will be headed by creative head and Shanghai MD Peter Soh, who has already flown to Miami to get fully briefed on the concept.

WHO WILL BE THE NEW JWT SYDNEY CD?

Speculation on the AdNews netsite that Matt Eastwood will be the new CD of JWT Sydney has been squashed by JWT worldwide CD Craig Davis (pictured), who is about to board a plane back to London. Davis hinted that the new CD is actually right here in Sydney and has either only just resigned or is about to. He said it would be reasonably big news once it happens. Should know who early next week.

CAXTONS IN QUEENSTOWN NEXT YEAR?

The Caxtons could be in Queenstown, New Zealand next year with the Kiwis allowed to enter the awards for the first time in its 31 year history, if Caxton chairman Tom Moult has his way. Moult says there are a few hurdles to go with the newspaper sponsors, but hopefully that should be sorted out at their next meeting in November. Almost every creative director in NZ contacted by CB is looking forward to competing in the Caxtons - especially if the awards gets points in the CB Creative Rankings, as will be the case. And, according to Saatchi NZ ECD, Mike O'Sullivan, there's no better place to host the Caxtons than Queenstown.

CRAIG DAVIS IN AUSTRALIA THIS WEEK

JWT worldwide CD, Craig Davis is in Australia this week, and hopefully he is close to announcing who has been appointed creative director of the Sydney office, replacing Simon Collins, who will be heading off to the UK before Christmas. Australian born Davis is on a worldwide mission to greatly improve the creative product of the JWT network and so far he is succeeding in several key markets including the UK and Asia. Recently former Leo Burnett CD Glen Ryan was appointed to the CD gig at JWT Melbourne and many expect a very high profile CD for Sydney.

ISHERWOOD TO JOIN MACLAREN AT BEYOND 05 CREATIVE SUMMIT IN SINGAPORE

Beyond '05: The Global Summit for Creative Industries aims to be the world's most inspiring, influential, and progressive forum for creative thought leadership and application. This two-day conference event in Singapore from 15 to 16 November, has plenary keynote addresses in the mornings with smaller industry-focused workshops and discussion sessions in the afternoons: broad-level issues with specialist topics. Content stretches across key creative industry pillars including, architecture, film, fashion, industrial design, advertising, graphic design, technology, media and entertainment!

Some of Speakers who have confirmed to speak at Beyond 2005 are:
1. Jeremy Langmead : Editor-in-Chief of Wallpaper* and Navigator*
2. Rem Koolhass : World Renowned Architect
3. Malcolm Maclaren : Founder of Sex Pistols and Father of Punk Rock Movement
4. Shekhar Kapur : Acclaimed Film Director, Executive Producer of Elizabeth and Guru
5. Bob Isherwood (pictured): Worldwide Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi
5. Martine Sitbon : World Renowned Haute Couture Fashion Designer
6. John Howkins : Internationally Acclaimed Author of "Creative Economy"
7. Gayle Moberg : CEO, Research international, Innovations
8. Tham Khai Meng : Co-chairman & Regional CD, Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific
9. Yasmin Ahmad : Acclaimed Film Director from Malaysia
10. Wykkid Song : Director of Song&Kelly21.

This event is in Singapore from 15 -16 Nov in conjunction with the Singapore International Design Festival (9-23 Nov), Ad-Asia 2005 (19-23 Nov), Asia Media Festival (14 Nov-2 Dec).

Registration details: www.beyondsummit.sg
or email: ham@pop.jaring.my

RYAN HIRES FEMALE TEAM

JWT Melbourne CD Glen Ryan, the former CD of Leo Burnett Sydney who departed earlier this year, has made his first appointments, hiring relatively unknown female team Aislinn Andrews and Donna Stevens, who both did AWARD School in Perth a few years back. Recently, the pair have been freelancing in Melbourne.

MOTHER CALLS HARRIS AND ELEY FROM NEW YORK

CB hears former BMF Sydney star creative team Scott Harris and Damien Eley, who have spent the last three years at Ogilvy & Mather, New York have scored a plum senior creative gig at Mother in London, effective early December. While at BMF in the late 90s, early 2000s they created award winning work for the likes of FMH, Blackmores ("Lobster") and Lamb.

PALACE SYDNEY HITS AWARD ROCK BOTTOM

For the very first time in the 27 year history of AWARD, The Campaign Palace Sydney has failed to score a Finalist, which would be almost unthinkable only a year ago for this once unassailable creative juggernaut. Let's hope the new Campaign Palace/Red Cell regime under joint CDs Dave Johnson and Russell Smyth will bring them out of this creative black hole by this time next year. Johnson scored at AWARD this year as CD on the excellent trade ads for The Work 04 via his former agency, Publicis Mojo Sydney. Other "Usual Suspect" shops that failed to get on the Finalist list includes DDB Sydney, Whybin TBWA Melbourne, FNL Communications Sydney, FCB Melbourne, Euro RSCG Worldwide, Sydney, John Bevins Sydney and VCD Sydney. While Marketforce (with four Finalists) kept Perth out of AWARD oblivion, Adelaide and Brisbane agencies failed miserably.

SAATCHI SYDNEY HEADS AWARD 2005 FINALIST LEAGUE TABLE

CB Agency of the Year Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney heads the agency tally at the shortlist stage of the 2005 AWARD Awards. Saatchi Sydney, with 18 Finalists, is closely followed by Colenso BBDO Auckland with 17 Finalists and Saatchi & Saatchi, Auckland with 15 Finalists. Ogilvy & Mather, Singapore, with 13 Finalists, is Asia's top agency at AWARD.
Craft excluded, Australian agencies scored 103 Finalists, New Zealand agencies had 67 finalists and Asian agencies scored 48 finalists.
In an AWARD first, this year’s jury truly reflected the region’s best thinkers with the main TV and Print juries comprising three judges from Australia, three from NZ and three from Asia.
The judges have delivered a shortlist and pencil-winners that not only acknowledges and fairly rewards the region’s best work in the last year, but counters criticisms of national or regional bias.
Amongst the largest number of entries received in four years, a total of 306 finalists have emerged at AWARD representing entries from NZ, Australia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.
The winners of this year’s gongs will be announced at the AWARD Dinner November 11th at Wharf 8 in Sydney. Invitations will be released this week.
This year, in another first, finalist and pencil winners will count towards the awarding of AWARD Agency, Network and Client of the Year Awards.

TOP 25 AGENCY TALLY*

Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney (18)
Colenso BBDO, Auckland (17)
Saatchi & Saatchi, Auckland (15)
Ogilvy & Mather, Singapore (13)
Publicis Mojo Auckland (11)
Publicis Mojo, Sydney (11)
MTC, Auckland (10)
DDB Auckland (9)
M&C Saatchi, Sydney (9)
Arnold Worldwide, Sydney (8)
Leo Burnett, Kuala Lumpur (7)
BMF Sydney (6)
Leo Burnett, Singapore (6)
Publicis Mojo, Melbourne (6)
Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne (5)
Naga DDB, Kuala Lumpur (5)
Clemenger BBDO, Wellington (4)
George Patterson Partners, Melbourne (4)
Marketforce, Perth (4)
Clemenger BBDO, Sydney (3)
Host, Sydney (3)
Kastner & Partners, Sydney (3)
Leo Burnett, Shanghai (3)
TBWA, Tokyo (3)
Tequila Sydney (3)

TOP NETWORKS

BBDO (35)
Saatchi & Saatchi (35)
Publicis (28)
Leo Burnett (20)
DDB (19)
Ogilvy & Mather (13)
M&C Saatchi (10)
TBWA (9)
Arnold Worldwide (8)

(BBDO includes Marketforce and CHE; DDB includes WRC; TBWA includes Tequila)

*Not including Craft, unless agency created crafts such as Typography, Copywriting and Art Direction.

JASON McQUOID TO ROWE INGEVICS

Melbourne based Rowe Ingevics & Partners has made its first senior creative hiring since opening seven months ago. Jason McQuoid (pictured) joins as Senior Art Director and brings with him 12 years experience, including six working in New York at Euro RSCG, Ogilvy & Mather, and Merkeley & Partners. His work includes international campaigns for Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, IBM, and Citi Group.
“Jason is a fantastic additional to our team,” says creative partner Phil Ingevics. “His experience and capabilities fit perfectly with our ‘best in international class’ philosophy.”
Says McQuoid: “I spoke with a number of agencies after returning to Australia, but Rowe Ingevics & Partners is different: Our sensibilities and philosophy toward the work are one in the same.”
RI&P has enjoyed a series of new business wins lately and has recently opened a servicing office for the Sydney market.

ANDY ISLES JOINS DE PASQUALE

Brisbane hotshop De Pasquale has recruited senior art director Andy Isles from OIL in Sydney. He’ll be teamed up with senior writer Nick Ikonomou.
“Andy’s talents and experience will further boost our creative product. He’s a helluva nice guy and a real craftsman. I look forward to working with him again,” says creative director, Cos Luccitti. Both Luccitti and Isles spent four years together at Leo Burnett in Sydney.

SPIN UNAFFECTED BY BUYOUT

International Management Group (IMG) has acquired Australian Fashion Innovators (AFI) and with it the region's premier fashion event Mercedes Australian Fashion Week, formally a company of The Lock Group and sister agency to Spin. Simon Lock has been named Managing Director of the newly formed IMG FASHION Asia Pacific.
Spin is unaffected by this acquisition and remains a separate business within the Group continuing to be managed by the existing directors; Simon Bookallil, Annalise Brown, Michael Laverty and Karson Stimson. Greg Daniel remains the Non Executive Chairman of the Group. Lock will remain as a shareholder and CEO of The Lock Group.
Spin has been a long-term contractor providing marketing communications services to MAFW and other events previously operated by AFI and will continue its close association with these events through IMG FASHION Asia Pacific. The Spin client roster currently includes Visa International, Just Group (Jacqui E & Portmans), CCSP (Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta), eBay, Fosters Group, Buena Vista International, Atari, ICON Clothing (Lee & Wrangler), Vanity Fair (Lee & Wrangler Asia), Ben Sherman, Contiki, Napoleon Cosmetics, Appletiser, Sony Tropfest and Mattel.

VETERAN ADMAN JOHN NANKERVIS COMES IN AS CD OF SO&M SYDNEY

In a surprise move, Singleton Ogilvy & Mather Sydney has appointed veteran adman John Nankervis to the CD post which has been temporarily filled by STW Group ECD Neil Lawrence for the last six months.
CB understands the appointment of Nankervis was driven by SO&M Sydney managing director Andrew Varasdi, who, according to one source, was not getting on well with Lawrence. The source says Lawrence will continue in his STW Group role, but will have no future direct involvement with SO&M.
Before this full time appointment, Nankervis had been freelance at the agency, working on Telstra and other projects, including the recent defense of the Pizza Hut account.
One rival CD told CB that with the appointment of Nankervis, who was a founding partner of 80s hotshop Magnus Nankervis & Curl (now FCB), "there's hope for all the old creative stars of the 70s and 80s yet".

SAATCHI'S BLITZ HAYMAN ISLAND CAXTONS

Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney headed an exclusive clutch of just ten agencies to score gongs at the 31st Annual Caxton Awards and Seminar, held last weekend (October 7-9) on fabulous Hayman Island.
Saatchi’s won seven Caxtons - all for Toyota - including the QuinlivanBlack Chairman’s Award for 'Fireworks' (pictured), which also won the Caxton delegates' "People's Choice Award". Marketforce Perth continued their strong showing at award shows with three Caxtons for Brownes and Office of Road Safety. Arnold Worldwide Sydney won two Caxtons for Skins Compression Garments as did Young & Rubicam, Melbourne for Cottons and Defence Force Recruitment.
Five others won a Caxton: Clemenger BBDO, Sydney, JWT Sydney, BMF Sydney, Cummins & Partners, Melbourne and Gatecrasher, Perth.
And, for the first time, Fairfax won a Caxton for Newspaper Inserted Magazines - best use of the medium.
One campaign finalist that missed out on a Caxton, much to the surprise of ad watchers, was the BT campaign via Host, Sydney.

NZ Blog

Just reading through the blog debate over 'Big Ad' and I am shocked to read
an anonymous NZ-blogger write "...good ads (esp TV ads not fridge magnets,
shit that folds and wobblers) sell stuff."

Big Ad is brilliant creative, and that's what the Campaign Brief debate was
about (I say 'was' because it's clear the ayes have it). The debate was NOT
'is TV better than the various other advertising media.' What you refer to
as 'shit that folds' generates massive sales for clients, enormous revenue
for agencies and can be just as creative as Big Ad. Instead of making
derogatory criticisms of media realms beyond your simple 3:4 understanding,
remove your cranium from your rectum and generate some independent thought.

Matt Batten
Art Director - Integrated
BMF

PATTS Y&R SHAKEUP: STANFORD IN, DOVE FLIES

CB Live hears former McCann Erickson Sydney CD and Publicis Mojo Sydney group head Michael Stanford (below left) will be the new CD of the newly merged George Patterson Y&R Sydney, and incumbent Patts Sydney CD Mark Dove (above left), together with creative partner Andy Flemming are out the door. The appointment of Stanford, who will report to Patts Y&R national CD Matt McGrath, will come as a surprise to most adwatchers, as many were expecting a very big name appointment to match the calibre of James McGrath at Patts Y&R Melbourne. Stanford had only been at Publicis Mojo for five months, an appointment that caused a stir internally within the Publicis Mojo creative department. Publicis Mojo will be looking to replace him "hopefully with a bit more care this time", according to one relieved creative at the agency. There will no doubt be other casualties in the creative and other departments today and tomorrow - at the expense of the Patts people rather than Y&R, before the Y&R gang move over to the Patts Clarence Street offices over the weekend. Meanwhile, in Melbourne, the opposite will probably be the case when the two shops move in together in a few weeks, with Patterson staffers expected to call most of the shots.

GRAHAM KELLY DESERTS SAATCHI SINGAPORE FOR BBH JAPAN

Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore CD, Graham Kelly has been snared to the CD gig at BBH Japan. In addition to overseeing print and TV advertising on all the agency’s accounts, Graham will also focus on developing BBH’s interactive offering and enhancing the agency’s integrated expertise. The announcement comes following a number of internal promotions and in the wake of substantial new business wins around the region.

“This is another very important hiring for us as Graham will be a key player in BBH's ambitious plans for the region. Alongside Hoon Kim and Jonny Shaw, Graham completes a 'world class' management team in Tokyo. We now have the people in place to really create a differentiated creative offering in Japan, a market that is arguably more tech fast forward than anywhere else in the world,” said Ben Fennell, Regional CEO, BBH Asia Pacific.

As Executive Creative Director at Saatchi and Saatchi Singapore, Kelly oversaw all the agency’s accounts, including Guinness, Republic of Singapore Navy, HP and Lexus. During his tenure, he strengthened the agency’s through-the-line capability and expanded its creative offering into direct marketing and interactive.

No stranger to international ad competitions, his print, TV, DM and interactive work has been awarded at shows such as Cannes, One Show, Clio, Adfest, Media and Communication Arts. His knowledge of both traditional advertising and new media bore fruit during his time at Saatchi. The agency picked up their first Interactive awards (Gold at Adfest 05, and Best of Show at Media Awards 05); won Best of Show at DM Asia, and was the top performing Saatchi office for print advertising at Cannes 05.

John Hegarty, Chairman, BBH Group said, “I'm really excited about Graham joining our Tokyo team. He's not only an original creative thinker but has demonstrated that thinking in the new media landscape. And that's the future”.
Graham will start at BBH Japan on Tuesday, October 18th.

YOUNG GUNS DEADLINE LOOMS

ALERT - Entries for the 5th YoungGuns International Awards close Friday October 14th, 2005. They are looking for the youngest, hottest creatives on the planet who are ripe and eager to please. If you’re between 18 – 30 and think you’ve got the big, big ideas that every creative director in the world wants to see, go to http://www.ygaward.com to enter your work and become an ad star.

NEW JURY CHANGES FOR CANNES LIONS 2006: PRESS & OUTDOOR TO HAVE SEPARATE JURIES

Two new changes will be introduced to the judging procedure at the 2006 Cannes Lions Festival.

Next year, there will be separate Press and Outdoor juries to judge the entries in these categories. The Jury President, as in the past, will still preside over the Film, Press and Outdoor Juries. “This will also mean a clearer judging of the entries based on the merit of their medium without being influenced by how they performed if entered in both categories,” said Australia's Terry Savage, Executive Chairman of the Festival (pictured).

The other change will see the preliminary pre-Cannes ‘judging-at-home’ round of the Lions Direct competition abolished and all submissions will be judged in Cannes by an increased jury of 30 members plus the Jury President. “Direct Marketing is a tactile medium, and as such, it is important that the jury see all the entries from the first judging round in their true format and not digitally,” said Savage.

Press and Outdoor entries hit an all-time high in 2005 with over 11300 ads entered. Lions Direct entries have steadily increased since the launch of the competition in 2002. A record 1600 entries were submitted last year.

The 53rd International Advertising Festival will be held 18-24 June 2006 in Cannes.

CARLTON "BIG AD" WINS TOP GONG AT MC2/CB REGIONAL TV AWARD

George Patterson Y&R Melbourne has picked up its first major accolade
for their Carlton Draught 'Big Ad' tvc when it was named the best tvc in the
Asia Pacific region at the MC2 Awards held in Malaysia. It was one of only
two Gold winners in the category - the other being a Bangkok Insurance
campaign (Robbery, Tire, Twister) created by hot Bangkok agency Creative Juice\G1.

The MC2 Campaign Brief Regional Television Award is unique in that it is a
single category award where all tvcs and campaigns compete against each
other. It was judged solely by two of the world's most respected creative
directors, Mark Waites (ECD and founder of Mother, London) and Bob Scarpelli (Worldwide Chief Creative Officer at DDB), while they were in Malaysia to judge the Malaysian MC2 awards.

Both Gold winners attracted huge praise from Scarpelli and Waites, who
predicted that they would both do very well on the international awards
stage and even going so far as to suggest 'Big Ad' was the front-runner for
the Cannes Grand Prix.

Two Silver and five Bronze awards were also awarded by Scarpelli and Waites in the MC2 Campaign Brief Regional Television Award category.
Silver winners were: Bangkok Yellow Pages 'Dad/Police' by Creative Juice\G1 Bangkok and 'The Love Story' series for Smooth E Face Cleanser by JEH
Bangkok (ex Saatchi Bangkok ECD Jureeporn Thaidumrong's new agency).

Bronze winners were: Bic Permanent Marker 'Prank Call' by McCann-Erickson Singapore. Toyota 'Bait' by Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia. Wushu Tournament Malaysia by McCann-Erickson Malaysia. McDonalds 'Life' by Leo Burnett Sydney and an hilarious Carrefour Sale campaign by JWT Bangkok.

The awards were handed out on Friday night in Kuala Lumpur as part of the Malaysia Industry's MC2 Awards at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center in front of a crowd of well over 2000 people.