Alan Morris (advertiser)
Alan Morris | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1942 Sydney,New South Wales,Australia |
| Died | 1 April 2007 (aged 64) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Other names | Mo |
| Occupation | Advertising Creative |
| Known for | Advertising agency co-founderMojowithAllan Johnston |
Alan "Mo" Morris(1942– 1 April 2007) was an Australianadvertisingcreative executive, acopywriterwho enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 80s. Together with his long-time business partnerAllan Johnston,he formed the Australianadvertising agencyMojowhich enjoyed much local and some international success in the 1980s and whose name survived till 2016 as Publicis Mojo, the Australian subsidiary of theFrenchmultinationaladvertisingand communications company holdingPublicis Groupe.[1]
Advertising pedigree
[edit]Morris' father Carl Morris was one of the Australian servicemen who upon return fromWorld War IIformed the Melbourne ad agency United Service Publicity - he was the agency's Production Manager. The US agency group Needham Harper Steers entered the Australian market in 1967 by taking a stake inUnited Service Publicityand changed its name in 1972 to USP Needham, whose lineage can be directly traced to today's Melbourne office ofDDB Worldwide.Alan Morris' brother Don MorrisAOis also an advertising executive and the two worked together at a number of points in their careers with Don being significantly involved in the life of theMojoagency.
Career
[edit]Morris' first job was as a copywriter in Canada while travelling. On his return to Australia he joined Rogers Holland and Everingham and then Mullins Clarke and Ralph, where he was creative director and had a shareholding.[2]In the mid-1970s he took to freelancing and at one point was teamed with writer Allan Johnston at Hertz Walpole in Sydney. Together they had immediate success as a team working on campaigns for Hertz Walpole's clientsMeadow Leamargarine ( "You oughta be congratulated" ) andTooheysbeer ( "How do you feel?" ). In 1975 started their own consultancy and continuing to work on such accounts as they grew their business.[3]In 1979 their creative consultancy became the full-service ad agencyMojoand Meadow Lea[4]and Tooheys[5]amongst other clients, signed with the new shop.
During the 1980s Mojo was the hottest creative agency in Sydney and Mo and Jo had success jointly authoringWorld Series Cricket's "C'mon Aussie C'mon"[5]and later theAustralian Tourism Commission'sspot withPaul Hogan's instruction to put another "Shrimp on the barbie.[6]
The Mojo approach to TV advertisements used a colloquial and irreverent style, often with a catchy jingle to simple accompaniment. Contrasting against the clipped and British-imitating style of voice presenters on Australian TV up till that point, Mojo ads highlightedAustralian idiomand its laconic accent. Ads such as "I’m as Australian asAmpol”,"Hit 'em with the Old Pea Beu" (insectide), "Everybody lovesSpeedo”,"I Can Feel aFourexComing on "," Every Amco tells a Story "(for Amco jeans) all came out of the Mojo agency in the 1980s. The use ofPeter Allen'sI Still Call Australia Hometo promoteQantaswas developed at Mojo in the late 1980s and until 2011 this campaign concept was still used by Qantas and its ad agencies.[4]
In August 1987 Mojo was acquired by the Melbourne-based publicly listed agency Monaghan DaymanAdamsLimited and became MojoMDA.[7]The resultant merged business maintained its listed status until 1989.[8]The Mojo MDA Group had offices in London, New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Singapore and affiliates throughout Asia. In 1988Advertising Agenamed it as International Agency of the Year.[2]
In August 1989 the Mojo MDA Group was Australia's largest ad agency with billings of $180million and was acquired by the Los Angeles agencyChiat\Day.The merger was unsuccessful and in 1992 Chiat/Day sold off Mojo toFoote, Cone & Belding.[9]In later international dealings which sawFCBacquired by theInterpublic Group,the Australian Mojo offices were sold toPublicis.
Morris had a successful stint at SingletonOgilvy & Matherfrom the mid to late '90s. In 1999 he teamed up again with Johnston back at Hertz Walpole when Jim Walpole offered them both a shareholding and that agency was at that point renamed "Morris Johnston Walpole".[10]The re-unification failed to set the advertising world on-fire and in 2002 the veterans accepted an offer for sale from the Japanese multinational communications groupHakuhodo.[11]In 2006 he started an agency named "Yabber" with his brother Don and with TV personalityJamie Durie.[2]A year later Morris lost his ongoing battle with cancer.
Personal life
[edit]Alan Morris was at one point married to the Australian television actress and screenwriterJudy Morris.He has a daughter Michaela Morris with Judy and sons Asher and Ronnie with his second ex wife Lissa.
Accolades
[edit]Together with Johnston, Morris was acknowledged by his peers with admissions to the Halls of Fame ofCampaign Brief(magazine) in 2006 and the Australian Writer and Art Directors Association in 2009.[12]In 2009 Morris & Johnston were included in the inaugural 12 inductees toAd Newsmagazine's, Australian Advertising Hall of Fame.[13]
In 2007 the Advertising Federation of Australia awarded its AFA Medallion to Mo and Jo describing the pair as "theLennon & McCartneyof Australian advertising ".[14]
Further reading
[edit]- Coombs, Ann.Adland: a true story of corporate drama(William Heinemann Australia,Melbourne 1990).ISBN0-85561-340-8
References
[edit]- ^Mojo Brand disappears
- ^abcAlarcon, Camille (3 May 2007)."Yabber merges to form Big Red".B & T Magazine. Archived fromthe originalon 6 June 2008.Retrieved22 February2007.
- ^Hertz Walpole history
- ^abHoare, Daniel (3 April 2007)."Tribute to an advertising legend".The World Today.Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Retrieved22 December2007.
- ^abLee, Julian (28 October 2004)."Doing very nicely, thanks Jan".Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved22 December2007.
- ^Baker, Bill."Come and Say G'Day!".Travel Marketing Decisions(Summer 2005). The Association of Travel Marketing Executives. Archived fromthe originalon 4 November 2007.Retrieved21 December2007.
- ^Dougherty, Phillip H. (9 May 1988)."Mojo Office in New York Wins 2 Jobs".The New York Times.Retrieved22 December2007.
- ^http:// delisted.au/Company/5526/MOJO%20MDA%20GROUP%20LIMITEDMojo & MDA listing status
- ^Answers - TBWA/Chiat/Day - company history
- ^Hertz Walpole history
- ^http:// bandt.au/news/mo-jo-walpole-sell-to-japan8217s-hakuhodo[permanent dead link]Sale to Hakuhodo
- ^http:// campaignbrief /2009/08/award-hall-of-fame-honours-the.htmlAWARD Hall of Fame
- ^"AdNews Agency of the Year Awards".Archived fromthe originalon 13 February 2011.Retrieved30 January2011.Ad News Hall of Fame
- ^http:// bandt.au/news/mojo-awarded-afa-medallionArchived18 July 2012 atarchive.todayAFA Medallion
