Agency folk were once asked by a trade magazine to name the person they would most want to start an Agency with Messrs.Mead & Vickers got the first choice, luckily I managed to persuade the second.
The first thing that struck me about Andy was his energy. Anyone who runs Ultra-Marathons across the Polar Ice cap, writes books and regular magazine columns, once guitar with Thin Lizzy and reaches speeds on motorcycles that are simply frightening, yet still gets restless for new things to do, certainly knows how to live life to the full.
Andy’s career is equally full. A genuinely 360 degree Creative Director, he’s raised the creative bar at IMP (from No.36 to No.1 according to Marketing magazine), founded Impact (one of the UK’s first Integrated Agency offerings) and run creative departments within the Grey and Saatchi empires. When Andy gets into D&AD, it’s not just for the ad - it’s for the brand name, the music, the trade mailer and the SP idea.
Creative people are well known for their ability to charm the pants off people. Andy in typical fashion went one-step further and literally charmed the pants off a whole agency, persuading the entire staff of Grey Direct to strip naked for a promotional campaign.
Luckily Andy does not believe in recycling ideas, so I can keep my trousers on.
As account men go, Chris is a creative director’s dream.
Not only does he instinctively understand creative ideas – he’s a determined champion when they’re right and a tactful critic when they’re wrong.
Better still, he will often come up with his own, modestly excusing them as ‘plonky account man’s versions’, although in fact they are always far from plonky.
If I were young and fiercely possessive, this might make me insecure. But I’m neither and frankly I’m glad of all the help I can get.
In his chosen field, he’s really impressive. Being of the ‘life’s too short for bullshit’ school, he never shies away from a difficult truth. And guess what? Once voiced, it’s seldom as difficult as it seemed.
Since the launch of KB49, Chris has developed from an account handler – albeit on a lofty scale – into a perceptive, sophisticated strategist. Watching him realise his true potential to the enrichment of agency and clients alike, has been a real pleasure.
You might say that he’s ‘driven’ – he has a daunting ability to concentrate on the job in hand to the exclusion of all else – but his huge enthusiasm for life always reasserts itself in an explosion of good humour.
It was happy twist of fate that brought us together and I have never regretted it for a moment.