Page 7 - AdNews magazine Mar-Apr-May 2023

ingredient – and exactly what peo- ple needed to take Christmas to the next level. Our solution: give Aussies permission to break free and go the full Christmas, because You Can’t Overcook Christmas."
When the BMF team picked up the main award, Christina Aventi, chief strategy officer, said: “I just want to say I think these are the best awards. Because the food is better, the wine is better, the sponsors are better – TikTok and their negronis – and I think the judges are better.”
Stephen McArdle, CEO at BMF: “Winning Creative Agency of the Year and AdNews’ overall Agency of the Year was pretty special. It’s a huge endorsement of the tireless work the BMF team put in day-in-day-out and the belief our clients continue to have in creative effectiveness.
“We have a huge amount of respect and affection for the agen- cies we’re up against across all the marketing services disciplines, so to come out on top was a surprise, but a truly joyous one!
“Landing Ad Campaign of the Year for ALDI Christmas was the cherry on top. We’re always looking to create work that has cultural
resonance and ‘You Can’t Overcook Christmas’ certainly did that. Using Darude’s club classic ‘Sandstorm’ as the hero track successfully put a smile back on people’s faces, a spring in their step, and ALDI on their shop- ping list. It was the perfect antidote to another year of lockdowns and pandemic-induced misery.
“The year ahead promises to have its own set of challenges but starting 2023 with a triple-A win like this has successfully upped our humble-swagger and renewed our ambition to keep creating work that’s amongst the very best. Thank you for that!”
Russel Howcroft’s induction into the Advertising Hall of Fame was announced by his friend, and fellow Gruen panellist from ABC television, Todd Sampson:
"I wish I had his confidence and surety. I wish I was that charming and likeable. I wish I could play the drums like him.
"I’ve never met anyone I disa- gree with more yet respect so much. He’s the only person other than my wife that has said to my face, in his case on television – ‘What are you going on about, you’re talking a load of shit’.
"I’ve seen Russel up, I’ve seen him down, I’ve seen him naked (the naked part I wish I could erase) but I’ve never seen him lose faith in the industry he loves. The industry he champions with dogged enthusiasm.
"Gruen may have taken away my advertising career, but it has given me a dear friend that I’m lucky to have."
The crowd at the event clapped Howcroft’s acceptance speech.
“I’m thrilled to be here. And I owe it all to the three wonderful decades I have been lucky enough to spend in this industry.
“Thirty years as an advertising agency executive – as a TV execu- tive – as a TV panellist and pre- senter – as a radio presenter – as an author - as a lobbyist – as chair- man of various industry groups – and now a consultant and -mod- erate - investor in the start-up Good One and, nearly, a game show host.”
He also talked about the docu- mentary he presented on Mojo, the Sydney agency formed by Alan Morris (Mo) and Allan Johnston ( Jo) in 1979.
“The doco wasn’t just about
Mojo and the story of an advertis- ing agency.
“It was about how Mojo’s ads changed the way Australians saw themselves.
“It was about the incredible impact advertising can have on people – how it can change our world and how we see ourselves.
“We mustn’t forget that the Mojo Tourism Australia campaign took us from #70 on the wish to visit list in the USA to #7.
“And, as former Hawke govern- ment tourism Minister John Browne said in the documentary - there should be a stature of Mo and Jo outside every country town in Australia because they created the Australian tourism industry.
“That’s why I love this business.”
After three decades, he sees a theme. “Brilliant ideas make the world of difference in every busi- ness and every industry.
“But they are difficult to find. And even harder to sell. But that is no excuse for not actively and relentlessly pursuing them – and selling the power of what they can do for our clients, for con- sumers, for our economy and for our society.”
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