Oliver Milman discovers why The Gruen Transfer’s Russel Howcroft takes a considered approach to running GPY&R, and reveals how on-screen rival Todd Sampson gets played like a fiddle by the veteran adman.
The showbiz aspects of ABC TV program The Gruen Transfer – such as the naming of fellow team captain Todd Sampson as the third-sexiest person on Australian television in a viewer poll – seems far removed from the world of Russel Howcroft.
In comparison to Sampson and host Wil Anderson, fellow regular Howcroft, 43, is seen as the show’s ‘suit’, a man who chooses his words very carefully. While the truth is more complex, Howcroft is certainly a man who takes admirable care with his public utterances.
So how have things changed personally for the George Patterson Y&R Melbourne managing director since the show? A long pause precedes Howcroft’s response. “People I don’t know come up to me or yell things out,” he says. “They say nice things. What’s interesting about the show is that nobody’s said anything negative to my face, so I only hear positive things about it.”
Ask him about the criticism of the series – that it presents advertising as a frivolous sideshow to business – and Howcroft again carefully crafts a reply. “I sincerely hope the boardroom is on balance happy … I haven’t heard anything to the contrary. The best advertising has always been high-profile entertainment. Every year, someone will do something that the whole world talks about, certainly the whole advertising world.
“I think the best part of the show is when competing agencies have to sell whale meat or the invasion of New Zealand (The Pitch) … To put together a persuasive argument, write something entertaining, stick it on film and get everyone laughing is a great skill. It’s a skill we should value. I believe what we do needs to be portrayed as clearly as possible; if I’m choosing my words, that’s why.”
Leo Burnett CEO and on-screen rival Sampson gives a view of Howcroft that demonstrates the duo’s contrasting images – urbane Canadian pin-up versus steady Melbourne pragmatist – can often lead to playful teasing: “I rarely agree with what Russel has to say, not because it is wrong or I know better but because of how he says it, he’s got that knowing suited schoolboy look that sends me off. He knows it and plays me like a fiddle.”
On a more serious note, Sampson pinpoints exactly why Howcroft appears not only on Gruen, but also a regular spot on ABC radio – he’s not in it for himself. “One of the things I love, respect and hate about Russell is his obsession with the advertising industry,” he admits. “He really cares about the industry’s future.”
Back in Melbourne, Howcroft perks up as the interview shifts from talking about his public persona to the industry he loves. Having been involved with the Australian Federation of Advertising for the past decade, he is fiercely protective of the perception of agencies.
“The value we bring has been unrecognised for a long time and I’ve done what I can to change those perceptions,” he says.
“Australia has 1.5% of the world’s ad spend, but I bet we do more than 1.5% of the world’s best ads. I think the adverting business has done an amazing job at recreating itself over the last five years. Ten years ago, it was struggling a bit with how to make money and how to be valued. I think there’s been a pretty significant turnaround in that.
“A criticism of agencies being TV-centric is nonsense now. Whenever I hear that my blood boils, it’s just not true.”
Arriving at GPY&R in 2006 from The Furnace, which he founded before selling his share to Havas, Howcroft was immediately confronted by the departure of creative talent James McGrath and Grant Rutherford, as well as the loss of clients NAB and, after a 40-year tenure, Foster’s.
The ongoing court battle against former MD Anthony Heraghty – now at Foster’s – did little to aid agency morale. But the turnaround has been notable, with Y&R chief Nigel Marsh praising Howcroft for his “Herculean” efforts at the agency.
“The agency was very pleased with itself,” Howcroft says. “It felt, with some justification, that it was very, very good at what it did. That skill was attributed to a few individuals, so when those individuals left, the rank and file did get worried.
My view is that isn’t how agencies work. An agency is a collective.
“I never thought ‘what have I got myself in for?’ I was always excited by the challenge and keen to get up in the morning and, my wife wouldn’t like me saying this, not too keen to get home. I was happy here and happy fighting. It was a great challenge.”
Having steadied the ship at GPY&R with new clients and award-winning work for Schweppes, Howcroft has every right to feel his approach has been vindicated. He will continue to spruik his industry for the foreseeable future. Just don’t expect him to make an outrageous on-air gaffe any time soon.
