Ogilvy & Mather/Atlanta
Junior Copywriter to VP Creative Director
Junior Copywriter to VP Creative Director
My big career break. With mentors like ECD, Ian Latham (and of course, David Ogilvy), I had the opportunity to learn and pay dues as, first and foremost, a copywriter. Soon I was off to O&M/New Zealand as ACD, then returned to O&M/Atlanta and a place as VP Creative Director.
Long copy? David Ogilvy kept saying, "The more you tell the more you sell." I was a true and total devotee of Ogilvy and of O&M.
Long copy? David Ogilvy kept saying, "The more you tell the more you sell." I was a true and total devotee of Ogilvy and of O&M.
Still am.
Shoney's 30 TV "America's Dinner Table"
After I took over as Creative Director on the Shoney's business, we dreamed up this singing postcard designed to support our brand positioning for Shoney's as "America's Dinner Table." Johnny Clark and I spent a couple of weeks shooting with John Pitka then edited video to the song we had already written.
Shoney's :60 Radio "America's Dinner Table"
One weekend, I went back to my roots as a songwriter and knocked out a jingle for our "America's Dinner Table" campaign. Everyone liked it, so went to New York and cut this version with a big music house.
I built my first creative team around the Union Carbide pesticides brands. Started by hiring art director Johnny Clark away from TuckerWayne. We were a hugely successful team on that business as well as on other accounts such as Shoney's.
This spot won more than a few awards, including Best :30 TV Atlanta Ad Club. To shoot it we brought in an entomologist from the University of Gerogia as well as a nature cinematographer who had worked with National Geographic.
