An occasional column. Simon Hadfield In Conversation.
This time it is Warren Brown, BMF creative founder and AdNews Hall of Fame inductee.
1. It's been circa 5 years since BMF, what have you been up to?
I had a major stroke caused by a big hole in my heart. I was in hospital for 11 days. My short memory only lasted for 3 words so I had to retrain my brain.
Since then, I thought I wanted to be an artist so I did a special skull, I call it a SKullpture, it took 2 years to make it and I had a team of very smart people helping me create it. I started 3 brands, Maninspace Gallery, BORN2RACE and BORN4SPEED.
Everything I do is inspired by iconic race cars, mostly classic race cars. With SKullpture, paintings, prints, shirts and caps I have maninspacegallery.com, a website with ecommerce.
I donate 50% of my sales to Bear Cottage, it’s for real sick kids and who need family support. Sometimes, I decide to give all the proceeds to Bear Cottage.
I help to run the Comms Council Creative Leadership course. I created the course with help from Tony Hale. It’s been very successful for a few years and is back again this year.
I drive around in racetracks, Philip Island, Sydney Motorsport Park Eastern Creek, The Bend in Adelaide and Bathurst my fave track. My car is old school, a 1968 GT40. Its loud, really loud, hot and no driver’s aids, after 20 minutes I’m buggered. I enjoy shitting myself.
I had started GutThink with an MD, an IP lawyer and myself a few years ago but I’ve let that go so Martin Rippon, ex BMF MD now runs it.
I’m getting involved in BAD, which is the Brookvale Artists District, a new initiative with Govt support, might be fun.
2. Do you have any observations on the industry?
In ad world it seems quite fragmented, a unified voice or brand that wins hearts and minds has always been my goal. Aldi and Uber eats have a quirky personality, I miss seeing the big stuff that fills us with envy.
3. Any work you've seen recently that you admire?
I loved the madness of Aldi’s ‘Can’t overcook Christmas’ and the Aldi’s shopping checkout ‘love story’. Something that few other brands that have the guts to fess up for their shortcomings, it’s honest, people are fed up with spin and ad bullshit.
4. What advice would you give your younger self?
If I had my time over I would have spent less time with conservative people and more time with the crazy ones. They change the world. Would I have been any better at what I could do?, I’ll never know.
I didn’t have the guts to be an artist, a filmmaker, or a storyteller but I guess my talent was creating ads that are populist and encouraging and inspiring creative people in advertising.
5. Outside of business, what keeps you out of trouble?
I cause a disruption as much as I can in the nicest possible way. Change is scary for most people but I love doing it. Changing a mind is hard work but very rewarding if it makes a difference. Doing something memorable makes it possible to build on that approach.
David Bowie always did something different and if you didn’t like it, then there’s always something new along the way, at least that way it’s never going to be boring.
6. Any big regrets over the years?
I spent too much time in crappy meetings rather than seeing the kids grow up.
I hardly saw them for 10 years while i was building BMF so I’ll never get that time back.
7. What are you driving, what are you listening to and what are you watching?
I’ve always loved cars, I have an AUDI Q7 V8 Turbo diesel to drag around a trailer that’s covered in skulls with my GT40. I also have a special car that I drive occasionally on the road and on the track and it’s a keeper, it’s a Ferrari F40. An iconic car and when it’s on full noise on the track, it’s mind blowing.
It’s still mint and if I was broke I’d rather sell the house than the car. I’m looking forward to season 4 of Succession, I love watching characters being assholes. Sport wise I’m also watching the coming Formula 1 season too. I listen to any cool chill out stuff on spotify or give my vinyls a blast for the past.
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