For a record ninth time Clemenger BBDO Melbourne is Campaign Brief's Agency of the Year.
Clemenger
BBDO Melbourne creative chiefs James McGrath and Ant Keogh believe
people have better things to do with their time than worry about
advertising. They are late for work, they have to dig a hole in their
backyard, they have to take their daughter to a Nordic-themed birthday
party... so who has the time for anything really?
Therefore, when it comes time to talk to them, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne aims to make it count.
"We
all know the disproportionate number of messages we encounter in our
daily lives," says Clemenger BBDO Melbourne creative chairman James
McGrath. "So being distinctive, recognisable and captivating creatively
as always, is vital but the shift to meaningfulness, to being useful, to
being confirming of an ideal, reinforcing being a brand worth belonging
to, that's what 'make it count' is all about. We also talk about 'make
no pollution', hard to do, particularly when any message should be
timely and relevant because of its context."
According to
Clemenger BBDO Melbourne executive creative director Ant Keogh,
advertising is a bit like if you stopped at a train station, you're
hanging out the window and you see the love of your life - you've got a
few seconds to say something before the train leaves again. "You have a
few words and whatever you say better count," says Keogh. "We have these
limited moments to make a disproportionate impression."
This
observation paid off, not only with industry recognition but in real
life: there's a guy with a Carlton Dry tattoo, memes of TAC's 'Graham'
spread and mutated around the world, people tweeted angry and hilarious
tweets for Snickers 'Hungerithm' and the Bonds 'Boys' campaign continued
to elicit startled reactions from newsreaders seeing large talking
testicles for the first time.
The ballsy campaign also picked up
a truckload of awards from all over the globe, including five Cannes
Lions, four Golds at the Clio Awards, First Prize at New York Festivals
in Film and Digital, along with countless awards at Spikes, Caples and
IAB Mixx.
Yet when it comes to personal standouts, Clemenger
BBDO Melbourne chief executive officer Nick Garrett points to NAB and
the 'More Than Money' brand relaunch.
"It's a huge platform with
immense potential and one of those rare comments where communication
can drive cultural change on a huge scale for an organisation," he says.
"But in terms of a pure idea, for me it has to be 'Graham' for TAC
because it is one of those special moments that none of us expected, but
we all secretly hope for, and its global amplification has been
remarkable."
Snicker's 'Hungerithim' is also high on his list
because of the complexity of making it happen and bringing the idea,
technology and supply chain together seamlessly.
Whilst the
agency attracted five star ratings at the award rounds, selected as
Agency of the Year at CLIO and Network of the Year at AWARD Award, last
year was also Clemenger BBDO's biggest financial year in its 70-year
history. Revenue grew by 11 per cent and profit margins were up by 13pc.
New business was strong on the agenda with the agency winning pitches
for Airbnb, Myer Digital, Mattel, AHM, La Trobe University, The
Australian Federal Government and the Victoria State Government, along
with BCF, 2XU, Ovarian Cancer Australia and more work for Australia
Post.
Another major focus for the year was addressing the future
of the agency's structure, with Clems Melbourne moving from a creative
department to a creative agency by sharing accountability across
departments with senior business and leadership teams for each of its
clients' businesses based on a triangular model. Each team now has a
representative from account management, planning and creative and all
decisions have to be made collectively - with each team responsible for
the work, the relationship and the money.
The rest you can read in the latest issue of Campaign Brief, which includes the annual CB Agency Hot+Cold Charts, out next week.
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