In December last year, BWM added five new creatives. It has just added another two – digital creative director, Shanan Goldring, and executive creative director, Asheen Naidu. It has also won Jemena, NBN, News Limited, Medibank float, RACT and CarsGuide.

And Rob Belgiovane, Paul Williams and Jamie Mackay have also celebrated the fact that for eighteen years they’ve stuck together through some thin and a lot of growing thick since they bought back their independence. Want to know how to do it? The Stable did. So we asked Rob Belgiovane, BWM founder and ECD.

The Stable: What have been the major creative changes in BWM from its first year to now?

Rob Belgiovane: Over the past 18 years we’ve seen a complete transformation of the channels that we develop ideas to run on. If you think about 18 years ago we were still working in predominantly press, radio, TV and posters, whereas if you look at today’s landscape we’re not even thinking about channels anymore. Instead we’re developing high-order organising ideas that can be brought to life on any and every channel.

TS: Your most striking campaigns seems to be for middle Australia brands. That’s a tough nut to crack. How has BWM created standout for average?

Rob Belgiovane: The notion of Ideas That Get Australians Talking (ITGAT) is born out of having a really strong planning and research ethos in the agency so that we do understand what middle Australia is thinking; what are the buttons that need to be pressed so that people want to engage with our brands and have people want to share their experience with our brands.

I see our role as creating ideas that can bring a moment of joy into peoples’ lives. If you look at Kmart or Leggos or Selleys, all these campaigns are bringing a moment of joy into people’s lives, and that’s not something you normally expect from an advertiser who is trying to sell you something. If a brand can entertain you, you’re going to feel far more predisposed to engaging with it.

TS: Creative challenge (challenge to be creative) is inherent in all of these new business wins…? How does BWM manage the balance between creative profile and size/business growth?  

Rob Belgiovane: We use ITGAT to judge the work that we’ve developed. It doesn’t say “ideas that are going to win the agency awards” – that’s not our primary motivation. Our primary motivation is creating brands that are popular within Australian culture. When you look at some of Australia’s most famous advertising campaigns, almost all of them were highly popular BBQ conversation starters. And regardless of which brand it is, or what category that brand is in, if we can create something that someone wants to share with friends and family then we know we’re going to be communicating well with average Australians. Regardless of age, regardless of gender, if people are going to love the campaign they’re also going to love the brand. The Father and Son campaign for Telstra Bigpond is a good example of that. It’s about communicating to people what that brand or service can give them in an entertaining way.

[Rob has rather cleverly combined my next two questions: ed]

TS: What have been the BWM achievements you’d put on your mantelpiece? What would you hide in the back of the wardrobe?…

…A three way that’s lasted 18 years without a divorce. How have you, Jamie and Paul maintained a stable top rung?

Rob Belgiovane: I don’t think there are achievements as such I would put on the mantelpiece – I think the real trophy Jamie, Paul and I have is sticking together for as long as we have – 18 years. If you look at the way the agency has grown over time, it has never been in a straight line – there are dips and troughs within that – but I think that by sticking together we’ve had the strength to build the business back up when we’ve had losses.

We’ve also learnt what it takes to attract top calibre people, and we’ve got a fabulous list of loyal long-term clients. But mainly it’s the never say die culture that we have here. We know how to get up and keep going. There’s none of this rolling around on the ground and crying like you see from the Italian soccer team. We’re up there and at it.

And Jamie, Paul and I are still directly involved with the business. We have some great people working with us but we’re here every day, and I think if you just keep showing up and you stay consistent people know exactly what you’re going to deliver. There have been a lot of agencies come and go in the 18 years we’ve been together and I think that says it all. One minute they’re hot, the next they’re cold. What you get at BWM is an absolute clarity that you’ll get great results for your brand or service. We consistently deliver the most important thing of all – success for the brands.

TS: What are advantages and disadvantages you’ve encountered as an indie?

Rob Belgiovane: Being an independent Australian advertising agency means we’re not subject to whatever economic bullshit is happening in Europe and the US. We don’t have to run the business based on decisions made by finance people over in the US. I’ve heard of some multinational agencies that have to get a freelancer signed off by someone in Paris or London and I think how could you possibly operate under those conditions? We’re able to make decisions quickly, our staff knows that the buck stops here, and there’s a lot less political side-game playing out in independent agencies.

TS: Adland is full of isms. What’s yours (ideas that get Australia talking) in plain speak – with examples.

Rob Belgiovane: Ideas that get Australians talking – that’s what we stand for, that is our ‘ism’, and what has brought that to life over the years is campaigns like Father and Son for Telstra Bigpond, our Kmart work, the Selleys Handyman, the ‘Australia Lives Here’ campaign for Real Estate Australia with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bank Of Queensland ‘It’s possible to love a bank’ and ‘Raised on Weet-Bix’. They all do exactly that, they get Australians talking.