Grey matters

Campaign

18/04/2008

As one of the main reasons for the industry getting younger, digital agencies are surely the last places that would want to hire ad veterans still getting to grips with their e-mail. Not so, Lucy Aitken discovers.

Spotting that first grey hair marks a watershed moment. Suddenly, it hits you that the last time you partied like it was 1999, it probably was. But fear not if you work in a senior ad agency role and are starting to grey at the temples or thin out on top. If you’ve proved your business nous, in a few years’ time, there may be a role for you on the board of a digital agency.

The roll-call of adland veterans who are defecting to digital is impressive. The latest is the former chairman of TBWA\Europe, Paul Bainsfair, who has just become Lean Mean Fighting Machine’s non-executive chairman.

Bainsfair, 55, has swapped TBWA’s extensive network of neatly presented ad agencies across Europe for a Spartan loft space in Kings Cross. As he puts it: “There are no glossy meeting rooms, no bar and no pretty receptionists waiting to greet clients."

Instead, there are 20 full-time employees, who, it is hoped, will benefit from Bainsfair’s 30 years of experience, which include a successful start-up and a stint as the managing director of Saatchi & Saatchi. His chief duty as a non-executive chairman, a role that he says takes up at least a couple of days a month, is to advise the four-strong management team.

Read full article on Brand Republic

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