Two years after its Cannes triumph, Nancy Hartley recalls how ‘Best Job in the World’ came about
It’s coming up to two years since the Tourism Queensland ‘Best Job in the World’ campaign, created by CumminsNitro, Brisbane, cleaned up at Cannes, winning a record three Grand Prix. Best Job won Best of Show at every major award show in the world, including two Black Pencils at D&AD the following year – crowning the work the most awarded advertising campaign of all-time.
Nancy Hartley (right), the co-creative director of Best Job, didn’t make it to Cannes that year, but she will be this year as Australia’s representative on the Cyber Lions jury. And Cristian Staal, one of the three creatives on Best Job, who was in Cannes in 2009, will be back again this month.
Hartley recalls how Best Job came about:
In 2006 Sean [Cummins] called James [Burchill] and asked him if he wanted to be involved in starting up the Brisbane agency for him.
James and I had just moved to BCM and were having a good first year there, so declined. James recommended Andy Geppert and Mark Smith for the gig.
A year later we talked again and decided to move across to head up the Virgin account. By that time Andy and Mark were ready to tap out. We took on the CD roles.
The first person we hired was former colleague Cristian Staal [centre] to team up with Merrin McCormick [far left], a smart young copywriter already working at C&P. We heard that another former colleague, Ralph Barnett [near left] – who had a digital/new media bent – wanted to come back to Brisbane from London. We talked him into joining the then two year old Brisbane office. We were lean and hungry for success and made the promise that if you join us your careers will go forward.
So we were thrilled when Darren McColl returned from TQ waving a piece of paper and saying “I’ve got the brief of the year”. It was our opportunity to make good the promise for these people we had hired.
Cristian, Ralph and Merrin went away and two weeks later came back with three ideas, which they shared with Daz, Edwina, James and myself. Best Job was the knock-out idea of course. They knew it, we knew it.
Daz, Eddie, Cristian, Ralph & Merrin presented it to the TQ client and she loved it.
The idea had to be sold up the line, so Cristian, Ralph & Merrin then produced the now famous ‘hype tape’ that outlined the idea in full detail and projected what would happen at each stage.
If you play that hype tape now and then play the Cannes entry video they are virtually identical.
The hype tape sold the idea and it was approved to go ahead.
The next time Sean visited the agency we shared it with him. He loved the idea of course. And when Sean brought Chris Clarke (SapientNitro owner) to visit the agency, he loved it too.
Everyone could see this was a brilliant idea.
That’s how it went down.
Sean was the founder and owner of the agency that gave us the opportunity. The creators of Best Job were Cristian Staal, Ralph Barnett and Merrin McCormick, from a brief by Darren McColl.
- Art Director
Ralphie Barnett
Cristian Staal
Merrin McCormick
James Burchill
Nancy Hartley
Jason Kibsgaard
CumminsNitro, Brisbane
Darren McColl
Anne Maree Wilson
Adam Ford
TOMORROW: HOW SPECIAL GROUP AUCKLAND CONVINCED IGGY POP TO FRONT THE ORCON BROADBAND CAMPAIGN WHICH WON A CANNES GRAND PRIX LAST YEAR
22 Comments
That campaign was a major achievement by all involved, but why do you see a need to recall this event 2 years later with credits?? Is the ownership of the idea still being questioned? Or is it a 2. Anniversary celebration??
A lot of people have taken credit. So yeah…
Wasn’t it the clients idea?
Well done Nancy.
A clear and definitive outline of who was in the room and who was in the country.
Maybe the bleating might finally stop.
A cracker of an idea. Enjoy Cannes, you deserve it.
If this account is to be believed (and I see no reason why not) then surely it should put to bed, once and for all, that for anyone who didn’t even see the idea until AFTER the client approved it to claim credit for it is ludicrous.
Does that mean anyone else has to take “The creator of the Best job in the world campaign’ off their CV?
Where are they all now?
It was my idea
No, it was my idea
I see from the bold paragraph in CAPS at the bottom of this article that this may be the first of an on-going series on the blog about how various campaigns came to be. If that’s so, it’s an excellent idea and should prove fascinating reading. However, it might have been worth prefacing this article by explaining that – or marketing the idea a bit. That way, Nancy’s account of how Best Job In The World came into being – as first cab off the rank – wouldn’t have elicited the typically cynical schoolyard backlash it’s received from some bloggers.
“Typically cynical schoolyard backlash”? So, old CD guy, it’s OK to claim someone else’s idea as your own? With that attitude, I bet you’ve claimed a few in your time.
Tme to clean up your CV…
Do it again.
Yeah, a few hangers-on sure rode the coat tails on that one…you know who you are don’t you?
Does the timing of this article have anything to do with the Tourism Vic pitch? Who created what and when for whom is important when agencies are claiming tourism credentials.
Ooh what a wonderful conspiracy theory.
Stop it Nancy. You’re gonna make me cry.
Oh the fun we can have with a weekly offering of “HOW THAT CAMPAIGN REALLY CAME ABOUT”
That said, will the authors give us the real story or yet another edited and self serving account of “what went down”…?
How can we believe anyone says about anything in this business?
Really? Who cares.
Move on !
This was done ages ago.
Stop hanging on.
Leave it alone once and for all…
I said forget it.
It’s boring now.
I wonder how does this computes with recent coverage of anonymous blogging?
How about people stop claiming credit for stuff they didn’t do and we’ll stop anonymously calling them out.
As a student, I found this really really interesting. I love the idea of getting a behind the scenes look at how concepts came about and how they’re sold to clients. Looking fowrard to hearing about the Iggy Pop campaign! Great idea.