Mike Hope-Milne is not your pretentious sort. Forget sipping
champagne in the director’s box at Australia v France. Happiness for
MediaCom TMB’s new director of radio is meeting a bunch of mates,
scoffing breakfast in a greasy spoon, buying cheap seats at a Varsity
match and going for a beer afterwards. ’I know it’s down-market,’ he
says with a grin. ’But I really enjoy it.’
The half-Danish 32-year-old used to play rugby until injuring his arm
while snowboarding. The Media Nomads, captained by Western International
Media’s broadcast director, Richard Brooke, are keen to sign him up, but
he’s reluctant. ’I’m too old and damaged,’ he says. Sporting activity
nowadays is limited to tearing around Hampstead on his Triumph motorbike
or burning rubber in his, er, Mini Cooper (’please don’t put that
in’).
Hope-Milne joined Mediacom TMB in September as its first dedicated
director of radio. Clive Howse was doing the job and will still be the
agency’s radio ’figurehead’, but he was stretched because he had to
handle the enormous Universal account as well. The agency needed someone
to live and breathe radio.
Enter Hope-Milne, a one-time head of radio for Western International
Media, who had been made redundant from his role as group head at
Classic FM a month earlier.
It’s his job to be a central point of information on radio, keep
everyone up to speed on the industry and advise planner/buyers on radio
campaigns.
Hope-Milne is a rare breed of agency person. He’s friendly, approachable
and can influence a hell of a lot of buyers to take on your radio
idea.
’I am known as a nice chap,’ says Hope-Milne. ’I’m happy for media
owners to phone me about any opportunity and I’ll be helpful, but if I
find that trust is abused then forget it.’
Virgin Radio’s deputy sales director Lee Roberts cannot help but
agree.
’He’s a good bloke. No-one has a bad word to say about him. He’s honest
and he’s decent.’
If you really want a fail-safe method of impressing him, however,
pronounce the un-pronounceable rod grod med flode (red pudding with
cream) in Danish - at least it’ll give him a good laugh.
LIKES
- A good game of rugby
- A nice pint of Guinness
- Pub lunches
DISLIKES
- Poncy restaurants
- Too much make-up
- Reps who say ’go on mate, give us some money’
