CATMUR RESIGNS FROM GPY&R, MELBOURNE - LIKELY TO GO FISHING BACK IN NZ
CB hears George Patterson Y&R, Melbourne executive creative director Paul Catmur has resigned, after less than a year in the gig. Catmur took the job in December last year, filling the vacuum left by the departure of James McGrath (now ECD of Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne). CB understands he will be taking a break from the business (probably back in NZ) to go fishing - he doesn't need to work - before considering his next advertising adventure. Before GPY&R, Catmur had a highly successful few years as ECD at DDB New Zealand. CB suspects Ben Coulson, currently CD of GPY&R, Melbourne will carry on in that role and, given the imminent loss of Fosters, it is unlikely Catmur will be replaced.
Calls to Catmur went unanswered.
posted by CB @ 9:44 AM
58 Comments:
ECD Publicis Mojo Auckland?
Paul joined a ship that was already sunk, this whole thing was always going to happen anyway. Patts management should be ashamed though. Don't think Paul will be in a hurry to get another job.
It's always a shame when CDs resign or get fired. Innocent fish die.
A once great agency is dead. They should take the word "Patts" off the name now and let it rest in peace. But don't blame the poor buggers running the place now - the damage was done by the two previous groups of management who stripped the place bare.
It was a tough gig, made tougher by the bizarre Heraghty/McGrath/Patts legal situation. Sometimes things are so far out of your control that fishing really is the only same alternative.
Big Fish, Small Pond. Rings a bell. How cliché.
Hey Catters, can I have your Aston Martin now that you're leaving?
Ben
one thing's for sure...cuz is hot
Well, as an pre Y&R Patts creative myself, I can say with authority that anyone who liked ads was kicked the week before the hostile takeover, anyone who liked making money and nodding their heads a lot in client meetings was kept on.
And you can blame that on Sydney.
Maybe you should all get over yourselves. How many of us have had the balls to go "stuff this there must be more"? Remember at the end of the day we make ads, we don't cure cancer or create world peace.
I agree ... and how hot would Cuz look driving an Aston Martin?
i detect a serious influx of bitter non-creative ex grad types commenting on this thread.
lez keep it pozitive.
catmur was a legend. can't believe he stayed that long.
I've worked both in Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne. Paul is the real deal, he's delivered on real brands and he's switched on.
Patts is fucked.
Seriously.
I also can't believe how hot Cuz is! Jim is also hot in a non gay kind of way.
good luck boys.
Cuz?
What the fuck? I thought this was supposed to be about Catmur?
This blog has turned into groupie central.
However, since people have changed the subject, I believe the beloved 'Cuz' was also responsible for the appalling VB campaign last year that tried to - wow, so creative - attract the yoof market by - gosh, how original - showing lots of young blokes getting pissed.
That was the campaign that deserved to lose the account - not the far better (though far from original or world beating) Beer Orchestra spot.
Ironic then that the business will probably end up with the CD who backed last year's crap campaign.
The industry is stuffed.
He's off to Catmur 6!
People will never get the difference between Ben and Ben. This blog is proof enough. Hint: one wears glasses, the other a huge ego.
Sure, we can bag NZ CDs. Sure we can complain that they've got it easy. That their market is different. That their clients are either smarter than ours for accepting the concepts or dumber for letting them through.
But in the end, the thing is...
THEY DO BETTER ADS THAN WE DO!!!
So who's got the problem - us or them?
Please tell me somebody is writing a mocumentary/documentary about the Y&R Patts merger. Has to be one of the funniest/sadist stories I've ever heard. Would sit well beside my DVD on Enron. I'd cast Owen Wilson as Ben Coulson.
(anonymous) opens new document....
3:46 That wasn't Cuz. You are getting your Bens' all mixed-up. There is Ben Coulson and there is Ben Couzens. I reckon you meant Coulson. Cuz is the spiritual leader and lead axeman on one of the hardest Rock n' Roll bands in the world, The Furious Dragon Love. Coulson is....ummm....?????
The whole blog should be dedicated to Cuz. He is one of the best blokes in advertising and he rocks.
What is with the spelling? It's 'fush in NZ"
The whole blog should be dedicated to Ben Cousins, who is much hotter than Ben Couzens.
That he does!
No one should dis him and Jim for doing nothing more than having a crack at every opportunity that came their way. They are genuine good guys, rare in this industry.
That's actually a real shame. Lovely bloke, hugely talented. Just the sort of person we need in our industry. Made his reputation in London if the truth be known.
Someone should make a documentary about Cuz's struggle to overcome being born with tiny nipples, that's the real story here. That's also how you tell him appart from Ben Coulsen.
they are only ads, its not like anyone outside the industry cares.
You lot make me sick.
Catmur is a highly intelligent, strong willed, talented ideas generator with a cracking sense of humour.
I would employ him to work in any market on any client as he would crack it, and it would be both challenging and fun at the same time.
Remember that it was Australian's that screwed Patts......
You show them Paul! (CB)
He won't have any trouble gaining employment because he can name drop some big agencies and big high paid positions. That's what the Advertising industry is all about.
Clemenger reigns supreme. The other agencies come and go - even Patts - or Y&R Pattsor whatever they are currently called. Some burn brightly for a while but only Clemenger endures.
This is just the latest chapter in Clemenger's history. Clemenger stays relevant by being relevant - or, quite often, by buying relevance. They've done it once again. This time on CUB. Make no mistake VB WILL GO to Clems. They've paid for it - literally.
Cuz is also the lead axman in Mamoth Mamoth, another hardcore rock band that he is the spiritual leader of.
4.18 talking about making a mockumentary on the Patts/Y&R merger:
"Has to be one of the funniest/sadist stories I've ever heard."
Did you mean sadest or sadist? Coz both work nicely.
Uh, legend? While I think Cat is talented, he's no Goodby or Wieden.
Catmur, Poynton, O'Sullivan, Meares. Their contribution to Australian advertising has been unique.
Like a famous Pommie CD once said: "Doing advertising in New Zealand is like playing tennis without a net".
I love Cuz, but making this into something about him when one of the best CDs of the region has left Patts is just sad and juvenile.
Correction, Catmur is a Pom not a Kiwi, stupid how people project nationalities on CDs simply because they have been working in a region for a couple of years.
And its the same for any country- If misguided money hungry men who love only the $$$ in this industry don't wake up and realise that it's the creative culture, the love of great work that spins the gold, they should go and work in real estate, kill the culture andd the accounts follow.
We don't cure cancer, but you'll get cancer working in an agency who don't respect the creative process.
7.57...I once had a lot of respect for Clemenger. They were a great agency, with great values. That's no longer true.
When Patts were at their peak, a new generation of management came along and decided they were invincible and above decent behaviour. They secretly pitched for Optus in Sydney while their Melbourne office was working on Telstra and Yellow Pages. They did the same, in reverse states, with the NAB and St.George.
They lost the respect of clients and the industry with their "We can do what we like" behaviour. It didn't effect them immediately, but that's when the rot set in. (They also started treating staff like expendable cattle - but that's another part of the story.)
Clems has taken the same path. They'll have a few big years. A few undeserving people will make fast money. But once the respect is gone, the decline comes soon after.
Wait five years.
I love the old resign comment.
I mean if he is going to fish surely he was made redundant.
Who does anyone think they are fooling.
What would a pom know about playing tennis?
D'you think Patts Y&R will be Campaign Brief agency of the year again this year?
Interesting question, Clems with a Grand Prix in radio and bronze in TV, Patts with a Gold Lion in Promo and a bronze in TV, Mojo with a Caxton. I reckon AWARD will be the decider show between Clems and Patts in Melbourne, other cities, I couldn't say.
Oh yeah and Badjar with a animal thingy.
That's of course if CBAOTY is based on creativity alone, which it should.
Don't forget Cummins, for fucks sake!
Joking aside 12.14, it's between Clems, Patts and Publicis Mojo.
12.30, we would have to agree, the Sydney agencies have done bugger all this year (maybe BMF, The Furnace, have done a bit). Nothing much from usual suspects The Glue Society and Saatchi this year. Beyond that of course, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth have put in a pathetic year as usual.
That Cascade ad. What the fuck is that all about?
If anyone really thinks it's going to sell beer, I don't know what planet they're on.
Australian brewers should all get the Guiness reel and have a good look at how you build a brand, maintain a brand, keep a brand fresh, and still be creative.
Look at any ad over the last 30 years, barely a bad one to be found.
And to think advertising is seen as an award obsessed industry.
Shame on them!
Though, I think the new Guiness ad just might be the exception to the rule.
It's so totally pointless it could almost have been done by Clems.
12.55 Nailed is as far as I'm concerned. That Cascade ad makes as much sense as the Toohey's farm one.
If that sells one beer it'll because someone bought it out of pity.
Yep 12:55 PM, Guiness, all good. Except for the latest one.
Does anyone really care who gets agency of the year? I mean, really, we love ourselves so much in this industry that we spend half our time inventing new awards to present to ourselves.
Here's a few we could add to the list.
Best ad by an agency that subsequently lost the business.
Most Awards won by an ad that lost sales for the product.
Shortest tenure by a CD.
Most money spent on an ad no one can understand.
Best ad not to be a send up of a movie, song, book, TV show or 70s comedy skit.
Best ad not to have a big song with witty paradoxical visuals.
Any other suggestions?
On the Cascade spot, don't Badjar have, or had, a bloody big badger in a suit in reception or the boardroom? Seem to remember always seeing it in their PR shots. Hmm they didn't have to look far for that pants idea then.
Is Catmur going fishing for big fish on a small pond?
3:37 is absolutely bang on. Ads have a job to do. It's why we have briefs (sometimes). Our jobs are to change behaviour or re-enforce something. Lets do that in the most creative way we can and stop making bullshit ads with no point...thats not clever. Even a good suit could make an 'idealess' ad with $2m and a good director.
I'm calling my first born Cuz, I love you Ben
don't be surprised if catmur ends up back in ddb land... marty o'halloran loved the guy, and probably would have taken him along to sydney if the board hadn't already hired a new ecd.
Catmur is a talented and a nice guy.
New Zealand is defnately not an easy market - anyone who has worked there will tell you they worked their ass off - but the culture is a lot more accepting of ideas and creativity than it is here. And that is a credit to the NZ industry. At the end of the day, it's our fault that our clients buy shit.
The fact that we can't keep people the calibre of O'Sullivan and Catmur (Premutico, Droga, Royer, Nott, etc) in our industry is our problem. Who wants to spend their life pushing shit uphill when you can go somewhere that lets you spend more of your energy generating good work?
The joke appears to be on us fellas.
4.36 is exactly right.
Life is too short to spend doing bad ads.
If Kiwis do better ads than us, that's aour problem, not theres.
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