Russel Howcroft has been inducted into the AdNews Advertising Hall of Fame, joining a distinguished list of industry figures.
Russel Howcroft has his father, John, who was in the advertising business, to thank for his start in advertising. He organised a week's work experience for Russel at an agency.
And like his father, Russel helped his son, Charlie, who is one part of a trio in agency Good One Creative. Together with friends Freddie Young and Tom Sutherland, Charlie’s agency partnered with independent Hardhat on @TheFactsination - an advertising industry initiative including #VAXTHENATION. The campaign was headed by Russel.
Russel Howcroft found his way into Australian living rooms via Gruen on ABC television and now on radio at Nine’s 3AW. He also fronted the documentary How Australia Got Its Mojo.
He is known as the “sell” voice in Australia on the cultural and economic importance of advertising in society.
But he had a long and distinguished career before becoming recognisable in the collective mind of Australia. He has served in many senior roles across the industry, including Executive General Manager at Network 10, PwC’s first Chief Creative Officer and CEO of agency Young & Rubicam Group. He is currently chair of the Australian Film Television and Radio School.
Where did he discover his love for selling? Howcroft told AdNews: “My father was late into the advertising business. He probably got his first job in advertising when he was in his 40s.
“That was JWT. He was on the NAB’s rural business and he was well known for his work on the rural industry. He was an all rounder in that he would do the strategic work, the account management work and the creative work.”
At McCann's, Russel’s father got his son one week in the office. Aged 20, Russel was studying marketing at Monash University.
During his work experience he had an idea for L’Oreal. David Chalk, a well known industry leader, had Russel presenting that idea on Friday, the last day of work experience. “Mate, just get down there and present it to the client."
After that, Russel was offered a full-time job.
“I can’t remember what the idea was but I do remember being nervous about the acetate slides on the overhead projector,” he recalls.
“So then I had a full time job at McCann Erickson and I also completed my studies -- full time student, full time worker.”
He remembers being thoroughly confused about the conversations during internal meetings. What the hell were they talking about? At the same time, he felt comfortable with the people. “I think that my father must have just known. He would've said to himself, ‘I think Russel will be suited to this business’.
“Because he'd got to know that business in his forties you know?
“At that time I started to enjoy the studies because it was getting to the strategic side of it. I went on a study tour of America and went to McCann Erickson, New York, where they showed us the history of Coca Cola advertising. That was big because Coca Cola was the best advertiser in the world at the time and everyone around the world wanted to work on that.
“We also went to Timberland, Hershey, Levi's. I got a taste of big brands in a big market. I remember the biggest thing that I got out of that study tour was how much Americans love business. I've always loved America and American things.”
Thinking back on that time, one thing that stood out: “They love to sell.”
Coming home, he told his father of meeting a travelling salesman, dressed in American business casual, a shirt with his company logo on it, in a bar. “I met a vacuum bag consultant in a bar and he absolutely loved his job. That had a really big impact on me.”
And just prior to that, in the mid 1980s, before starting at McCanns, Russel had been selling advertising space for the inner city Melbourne Time newspaper. “I loved doing that. I just walked the streets of Carlton, going into shops and selling them ad space.”
He was also in a band, Kelvin and the Absolute Zeros. “We scratched around. I was a drummer and I loved that of course. But I was in a bit of a hurry and it's hard to be in a hurry and be a musician. You spend a lot of time sitting around and I wasn't so good at that. But there were some very good musicians and a number of them that were involved in that band still do the pubs around town.”
He liked talking to people. His pub was the Lemon Tree Hotel, Carlton. “And then I'd get the newspaper artwork and take it down to the printer once a week. Around the same time I'd go and see bands and write reviews.”
About the same time he was trying to convince himself to go back to university full-time, the Melbourne Time offered him a new job. “They said how would I like to take over the Fruit and Vegetable News, the wholesale newspaper they owned. Would you like to be the publisher Russel? I reckon I was 20.”
Love of selling
He recalls watching a documentary about a publisher in New York. The camera was on him in a beautiful office, surrounded by books and he said "Sometimes I find myself getting so absorbed with my favourite authors that I end up signing my name just like they do."
Howcroft thought that was an interesting insight into the power of relationships. “That's a really powerful anecdote for me because I think you sell when you absorb yourself into the client's problem, working hard to understand where they sit in life, in business, in the marketplace. If you can end up signing your name like they sign theirs, then you've got half a chance of getting something good going.”
It’s understanding all the forces at work and finding a sweet spot. “That’s what you want to sell, what they're prepared to buy and what the consumer's prepared to consume. Three circles -- seller, buyer, consumer. And I think the very best advertising work clearly is what you want to sell. Tick all boxes, all circles. That sounds really easy but that's incredibly difficult to do. Those three circles are the same size and you've got to find your way into the middle.”
Gruen
Howcroft sees Gruen as being about society. “I think an important part of the history of the show is the simple pitch that Andrew Denton did to the ABC in that we're surrounded by advertising and yet no one talks about it.
“It's obviously an important insight, isn't it? And the other great thing about it of course is that every single day there is new advertising. So the marketplace provides new content every day. And that will be varying degrees of excellent to horrendous.”
Russel’s involvement came in a phone call from ABC studios, Ultimo. “We're doing a pilot and we'd like you to participate.”
He asked two people to come with him to the pilot: Linda Grey was the head of PR at the agency he was working at, Y&R Brands, and Lesley Brydon, who was then running the Advertising Federation of Australia.
“I asked Linda to come along to have a look at the pilot so that she could determine if it was going to be good for the agency. And I asked Lesley to see whether she thought it was going to be good for the industry. I had no interest in doing the show if it was going to be bad for my business and/or bad for the industry.”
Howcroft did the pilot, then asked Lesley and Linda what they thought. They both said: “You must do this.”
He received a phone call from a woman called Anita Jacoby: “We'd like to invite you to be a part of the show."
He said: "Yes."
Andrew Denton, the show’s creator, then sent Howcroft a note: "Why did you say yes?"
His response: "So no other bastards would do it."
Why did Denton ask that question?
“He knew that I was anxious about it,” says Howcroft.
“The bit that has been forgotten is that there was a lot of anxiety around the show. It was the very idea that there would be a show on the ABC that was prosecuting advertising that created a lot of anxiety.”
It would have been easy to give the advertising industry a good, public kicking on the ABC and make a spectacle of it.
“I was very much of the view that everyone should know about advertising. Absolutely eyes wide open. This is what it does. Because the view is that advertising is the honest end of communication. There's nothing dishonest about advertising. I'm trying to sell something and there's no distortion to it. And unlike the occasional headline that might appear in a media outlet, you cannot write a false headline in advertising.”
Denton sent a note back: "Nothing will be the same again."
Howcroft: “100% right, nothing has been the same since. And it's been important to remember that the opening show of Gruen was the second-highest first show in ABC's history. The highest was Kath and Kim. This should also be a shout out to The Moneys (now part of Accenture), a very young agency at the time, which did the initial campaign.”
There was an intake of breath after the second show. Howcroft: “After the second episode, pretty much the following day there was an article about what a disgraceful show that it was and here we are, the advertising industry wanting to be taken seriously and out comes this show.
“There was nervousness around it. Absolutely. But I genuinely sat in that seat because I thought if I'm not there, a competitor would be. It wasn't about wanting to be on TV.
“By the time we got to year three or four, I was sitting there for very positive reasons. I wanted to be there.”
Now he sees Gruen as a joy. “I enjoy every single part of it. Even when I get trolled … well I don't really enjoy that but it's part of it. People love the show. And you know, there's a live studio audience and people come up to you after the show. They want to have a photograph with you and they're shaking because they are so excited. It's very humbling, it's powerful. It's joyful.
“Andrew Denton was a brilliant coach. I'm sure he coaches everyone, but he would coach me on how to do a better job. And he was brilliant at it. He wouldn't coach you every day, every show. He just occasionally takes you aside and tells you something. And it would have a profound effect. You do as you were told.”
The show has had a significant impact on his career. “I do find myself in board rooms meeting people that I otherwise may not have met. And I find myself being allowed to have a voice. And that is actually part of the joy for me because I like to have a voice, but I wasn't necessarily going to have one that's as loud as it's become. So I have to be very, very thankful.”
In around 2007, he got a call from the office of then prime minister Kevin Rudd, saying the boss wants to have a big conference like Bob Hawke did with the Accord but about Australia's future. What should we call it?
“I said call it The Vision 2020 Summit. And that night I was watching the television and here he was announcing the 2020 Summit. But no-one from advertising was invited.
“That is the typical lot of an advertising person. You get a phone call from a client, ‘Quick, I need an idea.’ You give them an idea and then they completely ignore you.”
Many who watch Gruen see and then talk about the tension between Howcroft and Todd Sampson, the now former CEO of Leo Burnett.
“When Gruen was announced, a journalist hits me with: “So what do you think about Todd Sampson being the other panellist?" And my response to the journalist: Who is he?”
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