Clemenger BBDO creative chairman, James McGrath, doesn’t talk about himself much. He has been happy to let his work take centre stage throughout his 30+ year career in advertising despite having accrued a long list of international awards, including Global Agency of the Year at Cannes in 2017 for Clemenger BBDO Melbourne.
Director, Steve Rogers, got him to change that, interviewing one of Australia’s creative greats for the latest episode of The Creative relay podcasts.
So unsurprisingly, McGrath’s humble approach to success and the role of charisma in the industry was a key topic of his conversation with Rogers.
“I’ve always preferred to keep busy by doing the work rather than talking about the work or the process. I’m aware that I’ve not spoken a great deal about how I approach creativity or the methodology behind it, so it was an interesting challenge to express that through the discussion with Steve,” McGrath commented
In fact, when Rogers first asked McGrath to be his guest on the popular podcast series, he fully expected a polite refusal.
“I was genuinely surprised James agreed – because a lot of people have waited a long time to hear his thoughts on the industry and where it’s heading,” Rogers admitted.
McGrath adds his name to the impressive list of great creative minds who have previously sat in the Smith & Western podcast studio – M&C Saatchi’s Cam Blackley, DDB’s Tara Ford and Ant Keogh from The Monkeys, among them. For Smith & Western, it was a real coup.
“To get access to someone of the calibre of James and have him go outside his comfort zone and talk so openly was phenomenal,” stated podcast host, Paul Dunne.
Dan Higson, podcast creator and producer at Smith & Western, added, “The thing I’ve learned about James is that he thinks a little differently – so I’m expecting a bit of a twist.”
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