1. Peter Souter's all-staff memo entitled "Barking Mad".
It was a response to Larry Barker's criticism of a BT ad in Private
View, and showed a rarely seen nasty side to the AMV creative director.
Among the comments were: "Larry is a fellow creative director within the
Omnicom group so it would be inappropriate for me to point out he has
never won a Pencil and wouldn't know a good ad if it bit him on his
ample arse."
2. Larry Barker's all-staffer in response pumping BMP's presence at the
Campaign Press Awards in which VW's "lost dog" took the top prize and
concluding: "PS AMV got a silver. Bless. PPS I was going to send a narky
memo about Peter Souter's piece in Campaign Diary. But then I, too,
would be a whinging prick."
3. Stan Myerson, the ad director at the Express, for enough strops in
one year to fill this whole page. Charged with selling one of the weaker
titles in the national newspaper market, Myerson has mounted a rather
unconventional charm offensive. Personal remarks directed at a number of
respected members of the buying community have, we are afraid to relate,
been ill-received. But as one buying company found out when responding
to his particularly direct "presentation" methods, laughter is not a
good idea either. He has been particularly keen to focus the minds of
buyers within the Express Newspapers' own media buying agencies. Myerson
is certainly operating on the dark side of stroppiness. "I know this
sounds wet," admits one (usually robust) press buyer, "but that guy
genuinely scares me."
4. David Kershaw's vitriolic attack on Dominic Mills after Mills
condemned Carlton chief executive Martin Bowley's attacks on the RAB.
See Best Letters, opposite.
5. Simon Burridge, chairman of HHCL & Partners, was furious when he
heard that Egg was moving to Mother without a pitch, not least because
the client was on holiday in the week the agency was informed. In a
calmer moment he called the decision "addled".
6. Tamara Ingram, when Campaign reported, accurately, that the reporting
structure at Saatchi & Saatchi had been changed to enable the agency's
chief executive, creative director and planning director to bypass her
authority.
7. Frank Lowe, after he read IPG chairman John Dooner's provocative
quotes in a lengthy article in the American press. "In the past, this
industry had occasions when it was held hostage by crazy creative
personalities. What's needed today is to put together strong business
propositions for our clients. Clearly, clients come first." Pistols at
dawn.
8. Carol Fisher, who seized the opportunity to flex her £100
million-plus COI muscle when she told Campaign's Parliamentary
correspondent that ITV was "arrogant". "What I have to say to them is
that they cannot only create a relationship when they feel like it. Last
year nobody from ITV wanted to talk to clients. They were extremely
arrogant and I think they paid a price for that," she said.
9. The Tories and Lib Dems when the Government increased its adspend to
become the country's biggest advertiser in the run-up to the summer
election.
10. Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy's Jeremy Miles' usual unflappable
charm failed him when after a gruelling three-month, costly pitch,
Ellesse decided to hand its advertising account to its in-house
operation.
