Thursday, April 26, 2007

'BIG AD' LADS JOIN CLEMS


UPDATED: Former George Patterson Y&R, Melbourne creative team Ant Keogh and Grant Rutherford joined Clemenger BBDO Melbourne today. Although not officially confirmed, several staffers says they have sighted the lads in the building, along with former George Patterson Y&R Melbourne suit on Fosters, Paul McMillan, who will presumably continue in that role at Clems. McMillan resigned from GPYR at the same time at Keogh, Rutherford and Josh Stephens (now at AJF Partnership).

30 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

the white backgound in the shot is the edge of their very large cheque

well played lads

4:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

good on you boys... two talented bastards.

although with the world at their feet i am a litlle disappointed they didn't do anything cooler.

comfortable shoes i guess.

4:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't believe it.

Never, never, never could have believed this would happen.

Anyone else taken by surprise?

4:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the great merry go round that is the melbourne advertising industry just keeps on turning...

5:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How long, I wonder, before they become hugely frustrated at inability of most Clems clients to embrace adventurous or witty ideas?

The reality inside this sausage machine is quite different from the cooler-than-cool spin you get when they're recruiting.

But hey, maybe I was just useless.

6:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think, 6:15, history would say that them arriving at Patts several years ago one could have made that exact same post.

Assuming Lynchy had a blog then.

Which he didn't.

Which is why it wasn't blogged before.

But could have been said.

Or written about.

But wasn't.

Or maybe it was, must run to check old Campaign Brief mags.

P.S. Good onya fellas

8:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My My My Sharona!!!!

We all hope you can replicate your amazing success at a major label.

signed,

The Buggles, M, The Ramones, Carona, Joe Dolci, Chaka Kahn, Leonardo's bride and Cos Lucetti.

9:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Has the nickname "luvvie" followed one of the "expats" over to Clems yet?

1:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The same guys with the same CD and the same client and you are questioning whether they will do well?

Maybe I'm a tad thick but why would they not have the same success?

1:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

not yet but it will.......

1:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good luck guys, but like 4:20 I'm a little disappointed. Feels like you're a couple of 30 year olds who've moved back home with mum and dad. And just for 8:59, Patts was the hottest agency in Melbourne for quite some time in the 90's. Does Goggomobile ring a bell? So whilst James did a great job at Patts,don't think there weren't a few others who didn't do a good job before him.

10:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Christ, what a love fest.

First, this is a joke. The whole deal was clearly sewn up months ago, well before any of them left Patts. It's obvious and it stinks.

Second, the gang's record is insanely overblown. They had a free hand at launching Empire, and it was the most expensive flop Foster's ever had. They couldn't crack Sterling - a freelancer had to do the job. And the Big Ad is just a big rip off of the old British Airways 'Face' ad. A parody? How can you do a parody of an ad your target audience aren't old enough to have seen?

The fact is, not one client came to Patts because of their work - not a single one. Instead, the agency lost business hand over fist while McGrath and Co were there.

So please, a little more reality here people. When these guys learn to do campaigns - not just one-off ads - that create and build brands rather than just feed off them, then you can start talking about them as being talented. Until then, they're just opportunists who got the freedom to feed their egos by playing with other people's money.

10:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Clems looks like the cat with the cream now. But who would hire people who could do that to their agency? A desperate Clems.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

2:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wish I could be an opportunist who gets the freedom to feed my ego by playing with other people's money.

2:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good point 10.36. And Gogomobile wasn't just a one-off ad. It ran for ten years, but more importantly it was part of a genuine brand building campaign that is still the basis of Yellow Pages today. Patts also did some enormous advertising for Shell back then, also major brand-building stuff, and hey - it's not as if the Foster's brands were struggling. With 30 years of consistent strong work, Patts turned VB from a minor Victorian brand into the biggest beer brand in Australia. Carlton MidStrength was created from scratch by Patts and turned into a mega brand - with mega sales -in WA and Qld. So yeah, it's not like McGrath invented Patts. In fact, I can't think of a single genuine campaign to come out of Patts during his time there.

11:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To 10:43. You are a cynical, bitter and sad individual. And a little envious, I gather. These guys created the most awarded, talked about, funny and admired piece of communication in the history of advertising in Australia while at the same are some of the best fuckings guys you've ever came across. Or you don't know them, or you have an axe to grind. You're sad. Very sad. Hurry up, catalog deadline's approaching.

2:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh dear 2.54. you must have been in advertising for about ten minutes to have come up with a statement like:

"the most awarded, talked about, funny and admired piece of communication in the history of advertising in Australia."

Australia's ad history goes back a little more than two or three years. Ever heard of a place called the Campaign Palace? Back when Liionel Hunt was running things there, they did genuine creative stuff - not just parodies - every week that won internatioinal awards hand over fist and sold more product than you could poke as tick at.

And the Palace was only one of a bunch of agencies doing internationally recognised work.

Do a little research before you come out with bollocks like that. And learn a little about brand buildiing and actually selling stuff before you get too lovie dovie with this week's flavour.

My point was, and is, that they are two very good ad creatives, but they also got lucky with a client who was happy to do anything that was put up, and they've done one - one - ad that has been very well received. (The rest of the stuff wasn't.)

In ten years time people will still talk about Gogomobile - and know what product it was advertising - because it's real brand building stuff. On the other hand, very few peopel will talk about the Big Ad and even fewer will remember what it was for because it's the kind of ad that feeds off the brand rather than builds it.

Now back to Copy School for you. (I'm sure you only graduated last year, right?)

10:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So, did Patts pick up any business while James McGrath was CD?

Just asking. Be nice to know the truth of that debate.

10:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

10:37 is right - 2:54's comments are just plain bullshit. Australian advertising was alive and well long before Big Ad came along.

1:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

10.37 Reckons Lionel and the Palace in Melbourne still kick ass. He mentioned 'Goggomobile' a few times. He talks about 'real brand building stuff'. And is seriously bitter against McGrath and Co. Who can it be? Definitely a disgruntled Patts' old wood cleared up by James 5 years ago. How pathetic. I hope you get over your resentment and bitterness, my friend.
It is not healthy for you. Besides, that voucher leaflet ain't gonna write itself. Go on, back to work, old chap.

2:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

in a word, 10.39: No

8:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

2.42
Ageism is just as offensive as just as illegal as racism and sexism.But I guess they didn't teach that in your Tafe remedial English class.

10:32 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting comment 2.42. Wrong, but very revealing of your own intellect - which would be negligible, seeing how you made no effort to refute a single point made by 10.37. So try again, point by pont, to expose 10.37's errors. List the long term brand campaigns created under James McGrath at Patts, show us the sales results (especially for Empire, that would be fun), tell us about all the account gains, and explain to us ad by ad just how crappy the Palace work was, and how the Yellow Pages and Shell campaigns can't compare to brilliantly creative stuff like yet another fat man dancing. Go for it. Let's see if you can do anything beside be a smart arse.

2:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As someone who has never worked in either Patts or Clems (and have never regretted it), I'd ask 2.42 a few simple questions: Did James McGrath leave Patts a stronger agency than when he joined, or weaker? A bigger billing agency, or a smaller one? An agency with better prospects, or worse? I think we all know the answer. In five years tme I suspect we'll be able to ask the same questions about Clems and get the same answers.

2:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

2:42

How about answering 2:30's Q&A. And 10:37 didn't say Lionel and The Palace still do rock. They just said they rocked long before Big Ad did. For the record, I like Big Ad, but please don't start being disrespectful to a guy and an agency that produced great campaigns and won award after award campaigns over 20 years.

5:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're still sad, bitter and envious. You need therapy.

10:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Clemenger? Why? Safe? Yep....

12:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just reading through this stuff, it looks to me like you're the one with the problem, 10.05.

Big mouth, no back up.

Which seems to confirm the points made by 2.30, 2.44 and 5.32. (Especially the bit about the Palace. Anyone who bags their iconic work is just a dickhead.)

10.32 makes a good point too.

8:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Clemenger. Why? Safe? Yep.

But is that really what it's about?

Because, let's face it, this didn't just happen over the last week or two, did it? It was clearly set up many, many moons ago, when everyone was still playing cavalry at Patts.(Reminds me a bit of the old joke about the lone ranger coming to the rescue of the damsal in distress...)

It's a bit sad that these two good blokes have got involved in this kind of stuff. But then, I suppose it gets down to the company you keep...

8:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Some classic 'historical' blog comments from November 2006, pretty acurate some of them.

https://www2.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=14367763&postID=115905691876907081

10:50 PM  

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