Michael Ball, founder and former chairman of The Ball Partnership, has passed away shortly after his 80th birthday, following a battle with cancer.
Ball was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) earlier this year in the Queen's Honours list.
By all accounts Ball was a gentleman, and universally respected.
Tom Moult, Principle of Walker Moult, who worked with Ball for a decade at The Ball partnership and succeeded him as chair in 1996, describes him as “worldly” and a “man of enthusiasm”.
Ball was said to be “absurdly generous” and every year for the last decade or so hosted a lunch for all his friends. At his 80th birthday just over a month ago the room was filled with high profile Australian figures. Former Prime Minister John Howard said a few words.
He knew everyone's name in the office, was an “Olympic networker” and was friends with everyone. His client service was second to none and he built relationships with clients that lasted a lifetime. He was the kind of person that could smooth over any problems with clients because he was a good listener. He flew first class when he travelled, which was a lot, because he knew that was where to pick up a better class of client in the air.
After starting out his advertising career in J. Walter Thompson in Melbourne, he became part of the Ogilvy family becoming close personal friends with the agency founder David Ogilvy. Gawan Rudder, of the Knowledge Consultancy, describes him as a “disciple” of Oglivy. He set up the first Ogilvy shop outside of New York in Toronto and later launched its Asia and Australia operations.
Ogilvy's strong standing in Asia can be traced back to the foundations laid by Ball in the region.
“He saw the potential of Asia before anyone else did,” says Moult.
Rudder added: “Starting an agency in Asia is difficult, and he did it brilliantly.”
Ogilvy was so successful in Asia that it opened a second network under the Meridian name to deal with overspill and conflict clients. In 1986, Ball wasn't made CEO of Ogilvy Group as many had expected. Instead he bought Ogilvy out of the Meridian operation and rebadged it The Ball Partnership. After that he sold it to WCRS, which down the line became what is now Havas.
After exiting Ogilvy after many years, Ball even managed to convince David Ogilvy to run a full page ad in The Times in the UK with the header 'Damn you Michael Ball' to promote his venture.
His heyday was the 70s and 80s, but not only was his own career successful, but he fast-tracked the careers of many.
“He was fantastic at hiring young, enthusiastic people from far away places. He would put an enthusiastic sheep shearer from New Zealand in New York,” says Moult.
He did many things in his time, he was a bull breeder, and after retiring form advertising in 1996 he was apart of the National Trust of Australia’s launch of The National Living Treasures – a list of 100 influential people.
Rudder draws the parallels between Ball and David Mattingly, who also passed away this month. Both men received honours in the Queen's Honours list this year on the same day, but Rudder adds that they were “completely contrasting figures".
“They were two figures of the kind we're not likely to see again in advertising because the industry is so different now,” he says.
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