SYDNEY: Bob Thorn is still the face of Super Cheap Auto even though the former CEO doesn't work for the auto accessories retailer anymore.
Thorn resigned at the end of January after 13 years of service and, around the same time, Ideaworks Brisbane was handed the estimated $18 million advertising account from MJW Advertising. Ideaworks was then presented with a thorny problem: what to do with the reams of forward TVCs featuring the departed boss? No problems for Super Cheap, which is trundling on as though nothing has changed, despite the appointment of a new managing director in Peter Birtles. Marketing manager Andy Salmons confirmed Thorn would continue to front campaigns at this stage. "We have decided to keep Bob on as the face of Super Cheap Auto in the medium-term, it's basically just to avoid a knee-jerk reaction [from consumers]," he said. Ideaworks declined to comment. Paul McKay, managing director of MJW, said as long as the retailer continued to use Thorn, it would continue to struggle with its brand identity. "We were appointed in a pretty competitive pitch and we were appointed on the basis of being agents of change," McKay said. "The job we were asked to do was to develop an experiential campaign that moved on from Bob because, quite frankly, Bob Thorn speaks auto and the brand is much bigger than that. I think they are locking themselves into this idea and it's really struggling." According to McKay, over the two years the agency held the account, it was instructed to keep Thorn as the public face of all campaigns despite advice from the agency that the campaign direction was doing an injustice to Super Cheap's retail offering. "I think there is hope for the client if they move on from the Thorn idea and build up the brand. It would be good to work with them again, and one day we might, under a different direction," McKay said.
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