Local Boy Makes Good
Rick Benger, a 2007 AFA Graduate Trainee at Sudler & Hennessey has been selected to participate in the prestigious WPP Marketing Fellowship working out of London for the first year at JWT. Wow! Founder and Director of the program, Jon Steel, explained that Fellows spend a year in each of three of WPP operating companies across three continents learning a new marketing discipline. For his part, Rick said, “I feel incredibly lucky for having the opportunities to experience three distinct markets, companies and communications specialisations, whilst seeing the world. All with personal support and guidance from industry gurus whose initials are on buildings, or gilded on hall of fame registers.”
Melbourne Art Auction
‘Please lend a hand’ is the theme for this year’s B&T Annual Advertising Art Auction for The Lighthouse Foundation. Sports stars and TV stars will be lending a hand by donating autographed outlines of their hands that we will put together in a frame and auction at the end of the evening. Imagine that in your boardroom. The advertising industry will be lending a hand by donating their works of art be it paintings, sculptures, photos, poems, or anything else that they think will make people put their hands in their pockets at the auction. Mick Molloy, has put his hand up to MC the evening. Artist Mathew Quick has lent a hand by donating his Archibald painting of Sigrid Thornton. The Pier Hotel in Port Melbourne are lending a hand by letting us hold the auction there, as well as giving us a hand with the drinks…and the AFA is lending a hand as a supporter. The Lighthouse Foundation provides long-term accommodation and support for young people who may otherwise be homeless. All funds raised will go towards getting our kids into a safe, supportive caring environment.
The Auction is at The Pier Hotel, 1 Bay St, Port Melbourne, from 6:00pm on October 9 2008.
For more information contact Kelly Addis at kelly@boilerroom.com.au
Six New Members
Lifelounge is Australia’s leading creative and media agency specialising in the young adult and lifestyle market. Through the development of new communication and research channels, Lifelounge is able to monitor trends and information to gain a deeper understanding of what influences this audience. With their Urban Market Research (UMR), it provides a comprehensive analysis of the market, which is responsible for influencing the mass market. Leveraging this knowledge, the agency develops and delivers unique creative and marketing services for a range of clients such as Adidas, STA Travel, Simplot Foods, Fosters Group, Cadbury Schweppes, the Victorian Government and more. Along with media properties: Lifelounge Magazine, lifelounge.com and the newly formed joint venture with Fairfax Media, TheVine.com.au, it is also one the country’s leading publishers of both popular and sub-culture content. Go to lifelounge.com.au
Sponge actually started life as a magazine, the brainchild of founder and co-Creative Director, Mark Sykes, as an outlet for his creative juices beyond the day job of agency art director. The name refers to the process of absorbing what’s around us as a creative stimulus and then applying it to comms solutions. Today things have come full circle with Sponge now a thriving agency in its own right, covering advertising, design, digital and strategy with clients including Westfield, QantasLink, HotelClub, Macquarie Group and more recently Red Devil energy drink. ‘We’re a creative business that exists solely to produce ideas that inspire and get results’ says Mark. Sponge also works with pro bono clients such as Fashion Targets Breast Cancer and the Anzac Research Institute. Mark’s partners at Sponge are Cec Parnell, a highly experienced copywriter and joint Creative Director, as well as Shirley Brown, previously a senior international marketing manager with Nike, who is Strategy Director. They’ve recently been joined by Stevie Rooney from BBH London as Client Services Director to enrich the agency’s creative standards and management experience. Soak them up at spongeagency.com.au
Based in Melbourne, The Sphere Agency is a full service advertising and communications agency supplying effective strategic and creative solutions to a varied range of clients.What it continues to do is create sophisticated ideas through simple processes. In doing so, Sphere claim to have ‘cut the crap’ out of dealing with an advertising agency.This puts the agency in the position of being able to work with brands and organisations of all shapes and sizes, while stretching budgets further than others could imagine.Ultimately, it's the agency's belief in ‘all round better communication’ - both in the work it produces, and the way it interacts with our clients.Sphere's clients include Adriatic furniture, Orbit Homes, Nando's, Projecta, Narva Headlights, Visy Closed Loop to name a few.Go to www.thesphereagency.com.au
Background on other new member profiles for Multicultural Connexions (www.mcon.com.au) of Sydney, ISS Marketing (issmarketing.com.au) of Melbourne and Sydney and Workhouse Visual Communications (www.workhouse.com.au) in Sydney (not to confused with WA member Workhouse Advertising) have been held over until next month.
Queesland AdSchool Expansion Continues
The key advantage and point of difference of AFA AdSchool over other tertiary providers is the use of speakers who are current working professionals in their field, not academics. Who better to use to ensure your staff is fully up to speed with industry trends and developments- and would your clients expect anything less?
State Co-ordinator Hanns Berg continues his reinvigoration of AdSchool with the announcement of new short courses starting September 1 on Copywriting, followed by Integrated Brand Management and Digital Strategy. New One-Day Workshops starting August 11 and running through to early December on Understanding Channel Planning, Digital Marketing, Adcrash Foundation Day, Innovative Communications, Legal Risk Management and Agency Finance & remuneration.
If Queensland members, need further details, have any specific training or development needs not currently offered, or if you’d like to arrange tailored and customised in-house training for multiple staff, please contact Hanns Bergs at qld@afa.org.au; or 0438 806 195.
IS THIS A FIRST FOR ADSCHOOL?
AFA AdSchool Coordinator Ken Painter writes: “One of Perth’s most respected and successful researchers and now a leading academic at one of our leading universities, has joined with his son in doing the AdSchool Copywriting course. His son is a busy and talented digital designer and aspiring writer with one of Perth’s highly creative AFA member agencies. I guess this is a perfect example of Baby Boomer meeting Generation X (or is it Y?) a generation that he has researched for some years. This father and son are pitching in and enjoying the challenges of the course as delivered by lecturer Ric Cairns, a senior creative group head at Marketforce. This week, not wanting to miss one moment of the course, dad even made an epic 4.5 hours trip by car to attend the third session of the course. Ric is setting the challenges for the group as he works to draw out their creative talents. I’m not sure whether this father/son combination is a first for AdSchool, but Perth is claiming it until somebody else comes along with a better story.” (Names withheld by request)