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  • Published: 23 September 2015
  • ISBN: 9781760141110
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 176

When It's Right to be Wrong




Why be the same as everyone else? Witty, informative and refreshing, this book by former adman and branding expert from The Gruen Transfer gets you thinking about the power of good ideas with examples from advertising, everyday life, design and business.

Whether he's selling beer, health insurance or the army, former adman Russel believes in the power of the idea, and that creativity is needed to make good things happen. Whether it's about business or everyday life, Russel knows sometimes you simply have go against the tide.

In When It's Right to Be Wrong we're let into the Howcroft view of the world. It's not what you expect to hear, but that's hardly surprising from the man who once wanted to put a dwarf, a nurse and a monkey in the same ad.

Changing your mind is a good thing. Privacy is overrated so give everyone your phone number. Smile at strangers. Forget reality; the right kind of BS can create magical success. Good people rise to the top. Work–life balance is bullshit. Russel Howcroft will challenge the way you look at the world.
Don't wait to be right. Do it anyway.

  • Published: 23 September 2015
  • ISBN: 9781760141110
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 176

About the author

Russel Howcroft

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.

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