The Right-brain Workout

Former adman Russel Howcroft is the public face of brand marketing and advertising in Australia thanks to his appearances on ABC's hugely successful show The Gruen Transfer, Network Ten's Recipe To Riches and the documentary How Australia Got its Mojo.

When he was twenty and partway through a marketing degree, Russel did a week's work experience at McCann Erickson agency. He fell in love with advertising and spent 24 years in the industry before joining Network Ten in 2013 as Executive General Manager, responsible for Ten's operations in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

Russel has worked for some of the best agencies in the world including five years in the UK at Lowe Howard-Spink. He co-founded Leonardi Brandhouse and ran his own agencies with various partners for eleven years. In 2006 he joined George Patterson Y&R, Australia's oldest agency brand. The group included The Campaign Palace, VML, IdeaWorks and BrandAsset Consulting. Before moving into television, Russel was chairman and CEO of Young & Rubicam Brands Australia and New Zealand.

In 2010, media mogul Harold Mitchell presented Russel with a much-coveted Charlie Award for his personal brand creation off the back of The Gruen Transfer.

In 2017 Russel left the media world to become Chief Creative Officer and a Founding Partner of the CMO Advisory team at PwC. He is now the co-host of Melbourne's number one breakfast show on 3AW. He has been a board member of Melbourne Football Club and chairman of the Advertising Federation of Australia. He has sat on the ASX-listed Enero and is currently the Chair of AFTRS (Australian Film Television and Radio School) and a member of the Melbourne Cricket Club committee.

Alex Wadelton is an advertising writer turned social activist turned author. He’s created advertising campaigns that have run all over the world for clients such as the AFL, Cricket Australia, Wrigley’s, The University of Melbourne, Gatorade, and Schweppes. He’s raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for a range of charities, was the driving force behind the Nicky Winmar statue, and is the co-creator of Future Landfill. His first book with Russel Howcroft, The Right-brain Workout, was a bestseller.