John Bartle’s retirement from the ad industry is being marked with
the naming of an IPA Effectiveness award after the Bartle Bogle Hegarty
chief.
From next year until 2008, the award won by the best new agency in the
competition will be known as the John Bartle Award.
Meanwhile, BBH, the agency that he helped found 17 years ago, will award
a pounds 3,000 bursary to the winning agency, enabling it to send a
member of staff on the IPA Stage 3 training course for middle-ranking
executives.
Bartle has been a frequent lecturer on the course, which looks at
advertising issues from a client perspective.
Bartle, 55, announced five months ago that he would quit BBH in December
to focus on other business options.
No living senior agency figure has been honoured in such a way before
and the decision follows an approach to the Institute of Practitioners
in Advertising by John Hegarty, BBH’s chairman, and Nigel Bogle, its
joint chief executive.
Bogle said: ’John has had such a long and deep involvement with the IPA
in the area of effectiveness and making advertising more accountable
that we thought it was the most appropriate way to mark his
departure.’
Rupert Howell, the IPA’s president, commented: ’We thought the idea was
absolutely right and were happy to endorse it. John has probably done
more than any other agency principal to promote the effectiveness
awards.’
Bartle, who was the IPA’s president between 1995 and 1997, was told of
the move at an agency meeting at the end of last week. ’I was completely
taken aback and thoroughly delighted,’ he said. ’I feel very proud and
honoured.’
