From one rogue-spirited rock star to another

Rob McLennan, new executive creative director at Net#work BBDO

Currently the chairman of the Creative Circle Executive Committee, McLennan has strong views on the evolvement of advertising campaigns to boost brand equity. He believes that good strategy defines creativity - not the other way around, and that strategy should be a creative force, not a brand resource.

“Generally there's a disconnect between strategy and creative,” he says. “To my mind, they have to be inextricably intertwined if the end result, advertising, is to impress the emancipated and sophisticated consumer out there. I am blessed with a healthy balance of strategic and creative talent. So veering off in one direction only is unlikely. I intend to steer our clients' brands in exactly the right way.”

Mr Angry

McLennan says he has a reputation as Mr Angry, blunt and abrasive, but is respected for fighting for what he believes in and for leading by example. “My creative teams, in the past, would have taken a bullet for me.” This is probably why he has been inundated with employee hopefuls since ensconcing himself in hash#land.

Net#work recognised McLennan's talents a long time ago, but timing is everything. Having worked on leading, strong brands from the Unilever stable and others across many industries, he now welcomes the “David and Goliath” test that comes from working on challenger brands that Net#work excels at. “It shows the type of agency it is - brave. Anything that is difficult turns them on,” says McLennan.

If the difference between a mediocre agency and a great agency is the level of creative talent under its roof, then Net#work is “on the Pigs Back” as the Irish would say, meaning to be a winner or a step ahead. It already has an inordinate amount of creative talent if you pool Mike Schalit, Rob McLennan, Graeme Jenner, Brad Reilly, Quingqile “Wing Wing” Mdlulwa, Mariana O'Kelly and many more coming up the ranks.

The return of the outloow

“Yee ha, the rise of the rogue, the return of the outlaw, the good ship Net#work has a new buccaneer onboard. Chief#pirate McLennan is here to steer us boldly forth into fresher waters.” These are the excited ‘ramblings' of Schalit, who is like a proud father, seeing so much of his enthusiastic self in McLennan when he and his partner, Keith Shipley, embarked on the Net#work journey exactly 14 years ago.

This year's birthday celebrations were made that much sweeter by its recent achievement - AdReview Ad Agency of the Year 2008 - based on superior performance, in creative awards, growth and new business, over any other SA agency.

Fourteen years on, Net#work has got over the teething problems, worked through the petulance, proved its mettle and matured into a formidable and respected force in the advertising industry. But McLennan warns that this is no time for complacency.

With constant reinvention as its mission, two creative mavericks at the helm, a greater level of maturity underpinning its foundation and a determination to lead globally, it will be interesting to watch the upcoming creative output that McLennan says people will see and say, “WOW”.