Who are Sydney’s media and marketing catalysts?
So here’s a challenge that I thought would be quite easy when I was asked, but turns out to be harder than you’d think.
You may have vaguely heard of Creative Sydney. It’s part of the organisation that’s bringing Brian Eno to the city – even if Nathan Rees did embarrass himself by claiming this was a bigger coup than Victoria getting Tiger Woods.
But as part of their festival of ideas, they’re looking to draw up a list of the city’s 100 “creative catalysts”.
They say this: “We see a Creative Catalyst to be someone that has initiated something new and uniquely original within their creative field, and has thus made an interesting and inspiring creative contribution to the city. A Creative Catalyst isn’t deemed so by the nature of their job title or position, but rather they themselves have made a valuable contribution by virtue of their talent and achievement and – through this – have supported or inspired others to create new work.”
Zac Martin is definitely disqualified as he comes from bleak city not emerald city.
Tim, with a write up like that you’re left a small mess in my pants.
Although proudly, I am a Melbourne boy through and through.
Fuck mate, leave the Naked love at home. A 19 year old intern as one of Sydney’s digital creative catalysts?
Four comments and not a single positive suggestion. That says it all really.
I think Amelia Tovey and Jonathan Wald, the guys behind Shoot The Player could get onto the list http://shoottheplayer.com/
Jonathan Kneebone from The Glue Society. World-class in many mediums.
To have ACTUALLY “initiated something new and uniquely original within their creative field, and thus made an interesting and inspiring creative contribution to the city” is a huge ask.
And so it should be.
I think we should really try and limit the list to those who meet that ask.
You’ve provided some good names Tim, but as for some of the others, as lovely and interesting as I’m sure they are I really don’t think they make the cut.
I can’t think of many in our combined industries to be honest. Clearly we just have to work harder. There’s a lot of other industries that can fill the list without us.
Angus, that’s very depressing. I challenge you to come up with at least one living name from within our industry.
We sometimes forget the impact that this industry has on our culture. There are people pulling those levers. Surely it’s just a question of working out who they are…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Sorry Tim. I hate to be depressing.
I certainly don’t under estimate the impact our industry has on culture, I’m just struggling to think of people who’ve made real impact of late, with effect outside our bubble.
Droga would be my pick. I hope he can be included. And with regard to Earth Hour, I wonder if it’s Greg Bourne who should be included in this particular case – not sure.
I also liked your mention of Denton, Hartigan and Tran.
jon wall and ming gan from fuzzy – i guess that’s not media/advertising tho
“New and uniquely original” is what’s required here.
An ECD doing category-changing work, or making beautiful short films does little to affect a given city creatively I’d say. Do such things equate to “an inspiring and interesting contribution to the city” as the criterea demands?
As for shoottheplayer, suggested above. Hmmmm.
Rip off of a UK thing, which is very similar indeed to a French thing before it. Not unique at all.
I would heartily endorse your nomination of Mark Buckman.
Some will likely say that, because he is my client, my endorsement is biased and self-serving. But I hope the less cynical out there will appreciate that my endorsement is based on having observed the man up close and in action.
I think it’s a generally accepted rule in style guides that the words “creativity” and “bank” can never be used in the same sentence. Mark, by bravely assembling such a brilliant roster of highly creative agencies and challenging them to do breakthrough work, has singlehandedly made that rule obsolete.
And given how large a presence his bank has on the streets of Sydney and how big a role it plays in the daily lives of so many of Sydney’s residents, Mark’s leading CBA to more creative communications does I believe help create a more hospitable overall environment for creativity in Sydney.
And, by the way, Warren Brown is a damned fine choice also.
Cheers,
Harold Sogard, Vice Chairman
Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Droga is a great ‘ad guy’ bending the rules for self-promotion but what brands has he built over the years?
Where’s Sydney? Is it just outside Gosford?
What about the cabanaboys. they seem to fit the bill somewhere in here, they serve a mean cocktail.
I love Natalie, she is a true home grown star. I didn’t see any PR companies on there Tim and of course would like to self-promote Zing as creative catalyst in online pr. There are others out there doing online pr and it would be nice for pr to be recognised for its creativity also.
Harold your comment is so funny. Nice one.