At a ceremony in Rivonia, Johannesburg, last week, the South African Creative Circle inducted The Jupiter Drawing Room’s Graham Warsop into its Hall of Fame. The Creative Circle has held off from nominating anyone new since Mike Schalit several years back, but given the most recent business success of The Jupiter Drawing Room towards the end of the last year, Warsop’s nomination has been inevitable.
Graham Warsop, new Creative Circle Hall of Fame inductee
The award, voted by the Creative Circle membership, was presented by Creative Circle chairman Alistair King, who noted Warsop’s significant personal achievement as well as his role in building one of South Africa’s most successful agencies.
“Graham typifies what is so great about our industry” says King. “He is a man of such immense style and dignity, and it was just a matter of time before he would be called up to be recognised.
“He is one of those rare creative types that can not only make a great ad but has managed to build a local, independent agency that is giving the multinationals something to worry about.”
A DVD presentation to commemorate the induction was played, focusing on Warsop’s rise to fame as one of the world’s most awarded creative directors. Achievements documented in the DVD included:
- Being the most awarded creative director in the history of SA advertising (measured by Creative Circle creativity points awarded).
- Being the first SA creative director to judge the big four international advertising awards - Cannes, The One Show, D&AD and Clios. For the latter, he chaired the international print jury in 2001. Uniquely, for an SA creative director, he has judged D&AD on more than one occasion.
- In 2001 the work Warsop wrote and/or creative directed contributed to The Jupiter Drawing Room being ranked as the fifth Most Creative Agency in the World by US trade publication, Advertising Age’s Creativity. It is the only time in the history of SA advertising that a local agency has featured in the Global Top Five.
- In 2005, at The London International Advertising Awards 20th Anniversary banquet, Warsop was honoured as the most awarded creative director in the world in the 20 years of the festival. Second was Marcello Serpa of Almap BBDO (a former Cannes Lions jury president).
Warsop will celebrate 20 years in advertising in May 2007. Formerly a qualified barrister from the UK, his advertising career began in 1987 when he joined Meridian Advertising (part of the Ogilvy Group) as a junior copywriter. After stint at Lindsay Smithers FCB, where he wrote the multi-Loerie winning SAA Costcutters ads, Warsop left in May 1989 to open the doors of The Jupiter Drawing Room with business partner Renee Silverstone.
Previous winners of this accolade also include Brian Searle-Tripp, Robyn Putter, John Hunt, Keith Rose, Willie Sonnenberg, Terry Murphy, Roger Makin, and Alan Bunton.
