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Hall of Fame Copywriter On Running A Great Agency: Stuff The Place Full of Talent

September 6, 2011 By David Burn

David Abbott, the retired chairman and creative director of Abbott Mead Vickers in London, is one of this year’s inductees into the Advertising Hall of Fame.

Abbott, an Oxford grad, started as a copywriter at Mather & Crowther, and later worked for DDB in New York and London.

According to Rance Crain of Ad Age, AMV selectively picked its clients based on personal likeability. Abbott also says running an agency is no big.

Mr. Abbott contended that running a great advertising agency is not very difficult. “You basically stuff the place full of talent and allow that talent to bloom. So you have to have something that makes the great people want to come and work for you. And it’s never money. You can always earn more money at a bad agency because they need you more.”

“But,” he cautioned, “you don’t do great work in a bad agency. And that’s what drives people. You know, you basically don’t need to crack a whip. They’re cracking whips on themselves.”

Last year, Abbott’s first novel, The Upright Piano Player, was published and the reviews have been positive. The Los Angeles Times says, “Abbott has peered over the edge to write this gripping novel, a reminder of how little control we have over our lives.”

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About David Burn

Co-founder and editor of Adpulp.com. David wrote his first ad for a political candidate when he was 17 years old. She won her race and he felt the seductive power of advertising for the first time. Today, David is a creative director in Austin, Texas.

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The Chronicle of Bright Ideas. Launched by David Burn and Shawn Hartley in 2004. Read, shared, and debated by a rogue group of ad pros ever since.

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