Pub. Note: Nominations are being accepted for the next two inductees into the pantheon of MARKETING IMMORTALS. They will be announced and profiled in the 2020 edition of The LINK, which will be published only in digital form. Send your nomination to larrycoffman@frontier.com by Aug. 31. Name-only will suffice, but feel free to explain the reasons for your nomination. Thanks to those who have sent the following nominations thus far—Glenn Blue, Becky Brenner, Alan Brown, Jim Cissell, Betti Fujikado, Jean Godden, Dan Gross, Eric Johnson, Kim Kimmy, Peter Lewis, Lori Matsukawa, Cal McAllister, John Rubino, Gary Spinnell, Sparky Taft and Bill Wixey.
Since 2009, MARKETING has been inducting leaders in the marcomm community into the pantheon of MARKETING IMMORTALS, based on their career accomplishments. The eight categories include Advertising, Public Relations, Design, Direct Marketing, Film/Video/Audio, Graphic Arts, Media and Corporate/Client. The total number of inductees now stands at 67.
As stated in the Welcome message on www.marketingimmortals.com, “The intent of this Website is to preserve the memories of those who have contributed so much to these various fields of endeavor, as we know them today and as they will evolve in the future. Besides ‘immortalizing’ the work of those who have gone before, the site also is intended to inform current practitioners of the legacies upon which their work is founded and to have significant educational and historical value.”
We revisit a different MARKETING IMMORTAL each week. This week’s featured IMMORTAL is advertising icon John Brown. Here’s his update:
“I didn’t exactly retire. I stopped working when I suffered a five-way bypass. (That’s surgeon-speak for repairing all five of the main blood vessels that feed your heart.)
I had been a freelance copywriter before that, but the heart issue took me right out of the game.
“Next: Rest up, get well.
“Next: I tried my hand at writing a novel. The storyline turned out great, but then I experienced something I learned in over nearly 40 years of writing ads: The fun part is thinking of up the idea for a campaign (book idea). The hard work is writing the copy that goes with each of the ads or (book pages} that make up the campaign, or the book pages.
“Next: Getting back in better shape. I had spent quite a bit of time behind a typewriter, so I enrolled in a local gym, LA Fitness. I’ve been going there about three times a week since then. My workout is far from professional. It lasts from 45 minutes to an hour. (23 minutes on a stationary bicycle, 48 pull-ups on a hang- down rig. 50 reps on a leg-pull machine. And 15 minutes on a treadmill. It’s grueling work, but it may save my life one of these days.
“Next: Swimming/walking. I’ve always been able to swim without too much extra effort. But when I tried it at the gym, I sank like a rock. Learning to walk again is also trick I haven’t yet re-mastered. When I leave the gym, my legs often give out before I get to my car. Serious disability. I used to play golf on rolling hills and scamper down steep valleys to get to trout-fishing paradises. No more.
“Memories: I’ve had some experiences that are one-of-a-kind. I worked for Cole and Weber (C&W) for 11 years and got to know the legendary Hal Dixon and Hal Newsom. I was the first creative director (CD) they ever trusted enough to replace Newsom. I remember putting together a campaign for Boeing that I was quite proud, but Newsom turned it down before it ever got to Boeing.
“When I was CD of the Portland office of Cole and Weber, i accompanied C&W’s general manager to Honolulu with the intent to open a C&W office in Hawaii. McCann”s office was closing and our plan was to win any of the clients they had left behind. We did manage to win a real estate condo account and turn out a TV spot I was very proud of.
“Nike was one of John Brown & Partners (JB&P) first accounts. I wrote a two-page spread headlined “There is no finish line.” It showed a photo of a singular runner (photo by Bob Peterson) on a rural road. That piece won the most of the more than 400 awards that JB&P won in its 15 years of business. It also began a revolution in running throughout the nation.”
Here’s John’s IMMORTALS bio and commentary.
