James McGrath was inducted into the AWARD Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Sydney last night.
Clemenger Group’s recently retired chair of the Creative Board became the 21st Hall of Fame inductee, announced at an exclusive gala dinner at This Way Up, AWARD’s signature creative festival.
AWARD chair, Cam Blackley, said the AWARD Hall of Fame is reserved for the best of the very best, pioneers who have defined a generation and shaped creativity.
"Those that have made it to the top, stayed and will always remain there. The very few we can call legends," he said.
“This year’s AWARD committee voted unanimously for James due to the enormous impact he’s had on the industry by raising Australia’s creative profile globally, building an unsurpassed legacy of leadership and supporting the careers of countless industry creatives.”
McGrath’s career began in Melbourne in the 1980s, where he was plucked as a design graduate of Swinburne to join Box Emery and Partners before moving to Y&R as creative director at 27.
A successful stint at George Patterson followed, where he created the ‘Big Ad’ for Carlton United Breweries, and in 2006 he joined Clemenger BBDO as executive creative director before being promoted to the global board and ANZ creative chair.
McGrath said he was grateful to AWARD for the honour, and to all the organisations he has worked with over the years.
“I’ve never underestimated the power of creativity to solve the greatest problems and that’s due to the intergenerational creative culture of Clemenger," said McGrath.
"The championing of creativity has been all-defining as a result. Creativity is always the answer.”
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