Around this time of year I tend to get pretty sentimental. The holidays, my birthday, and then in early February the anniversary of my father's death all make me crave some positive memories to keep him fresh in my mind. For those of you who don't know me personally my father was my best friend, my #1 business adviser, and my mentor. He had a full life when he passed away, but that does not mean I still don't miss him like crazy and think about it him every day.
This week a gentleman named Robert Chandler (who owns the agency General Levitation) reached out to me to introduce himself and ask if he could tell me a story about my father. To the best of my memory it's the only story I've ever heard about my father directly interacting with advertising thus it has extra special meaning to me. I hope you enjoy it in Robert's words (since he is a copywriter after all)....
"Back in the late 70s, I was a young group head at Chiat/Day in Los Angeles. Your dad and Jay, both being bright, pioneering mavericks were a perfect fit, and Jay won us an opportunity to pitch the Laker Airways account.
Jay assigned me and my little group to develop the campaign. We came up with something that was a hit internally, so I started preparing for the big presentation day.
Now I had been in the business long enough to have met with clients on a regular basis (even scary guys like Ernest Gallo). And I'd presented many campaigns to existing clients. But, I'd never been the creative lead on a new business pitch before and was uncharacteristically nervous. Hy Yablonka, Chiat's first creative director and a partner with Jay and Guy Day bucked me up and convinced me that I was more than ready to make a pitch.
At the appointed hour, the Laker delegation arrived. Because Laker was a small smart airline and not a big dumb one, there were only three people: The head of marketing. A second person probably his assistant. And your dad. Sir Freddie Himself.
The usual preliminaries and setups were attended to by our marketing guys and media. Then creative stood up. Me.
I pitched the campaign which was built around the kickoff ad billboarding the theme: "Cross the Atlantic without getting soaked."
The campaign, in addition to a collection of cheeky full page newspaper ads and outdoor featured a very simple spot. It featured a spokesman- I think we proposed your dad, standing in the aisle of a DC-10. He said essentially, "When you fly to London on the old line airlines, they give you this nice cushy seat. So do we. They have lovely stewardesses. So do we. They give you two nice meals. So do we. They get you there in 6 hours. Us too. So why do the old line airlines charge you three times more than Laker ? I don't know. Why are you paying it?
CUT TO SUPER: Laker Airways. Cross the Atlantic without getting soaked."
Well, Sir Freddie, unlike the usual poker faced prospects in a pitch was wonderfully effusive. He loved the campaign. He was highly complimentary to all of us. And, in fact, he tried to give us the account right then and there.
It was only the intervention of the prudent head of marketing that prevented a hand being shook on the deal in that room. Marketing reminded your father that they still had two or three other presentations to see. Your dad, obviously not one to pull rank, deferred to Marketing's ministrations.
In the event, other considerations intervened and we did not get the account. And my recollection is the winner did not mount a campaign as cheeky as ours.
But, I have to tell you, I have had a very fond spot in my heart for your father ever since. He was so obviously a lovely man. He had the courage to act on his instincts. And the great good will to show his true feelings in a business meeting and not worry about hanging onto his negotiating leverage.
Sir Freddie Laker gave a 30-something kid one of the most wonderful moments of a career that has enjoyed some pretty good days. And he made about the most pleasurable and long-lasting impression upon me of any person I've ever met in business.
I'm sure my experience is emblematic of moments enjoyed by many, many other people in their dealings with your father.
I can see why you think about your father every day. I think about him with regularity myself. And only met him once.
With best regards, and a salute to your father's memory,"
Good story Robert. Nice pitch too - I'm sure it would have had a nice mobile or digital component if you had pitched it now - GRIN.
Thanks for making my day!
"Take Me To Your Leader" focuses on trend watching in consumer behaviors, marketing, technology, and social media, but is often led astray by it's eccentric authors and their love of music, traveling, random thoughts, and pirates.