Farewell Rod Brown – a real ad man
UPDATE: Rod’s funeral will be held on Thursday Jan 6 at 1.30pm, St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Raglan St Manly. Details kym@griffen.com.au
Many in the ad industry will be saddened to hear of the passing of Rod Brown, in his time one of top ‘creative’ suits, having worked at Ogilvy & Mather, Forbes Macfie Hansen, The Campaign Palace and Ammirati Puris Lintas.
His friend Kym Griffen, principal of Griffen Creative, Sydney sent CB this note:
In a time when late nights and long lunches reigned Rod Brown was an account guy who was seen more often in the creative department than sitting at his desk with the other account directors.
Rod was an old fashioned ad man, work hard, play hard. It was a time when campaigns were regularly written at The Malaya, The Peacock Gardens or, if Rod was there with his expense account, La Grillade.
Rod was a guy who enjoyed every sport that was going – rugby, squash, tennis, golf – always first to roll up for the agency cricket games, last to leave. Rod originally from Goulburn, worked his way around Australia on all the big accounts and with all the top agencies of the time. His best days were spent at Ogilvy and Mather, Forbes Macfie Hansen and The Campaign Palace.
But as time passed the business changed and Rod moved on and has been more recently holding down a much more mundane job – such is the life of the Ad Man.
Rod died this week, but the memories of an old fashioned ad lunch or a long night celebrating an account win will remain with us.
The funeral will be held on Thursday Jan 6 at 1.30pm, St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Raglan St Manly. Details kym@griffen.com.au
16 Comments
What the hell happened?
Here’s to the old fashioned ad man. And he was a good man Vale Rod and we all miss the long lunch
That’s so sad – what the hell happened? He was a marathon runner.
I’ll always remember Rod with a big smile, a discussion about the latest campaign, a debate about the latest score (for anything) and his ongoing passion for the ad business. He was more than a lover of a good lunch, he loved the business. Very, very sad to see a great bloke leave us way too early. We believe he suffered a massive heart attack. Sincere condolences to his daughter and family.
Like Ray Ross before him, Rod was a good ad man, but more importantly a good man.
Vale Rod.
I worked with Rod i think at forbes macfie but certainly at the campaign palace,
and everything kym has said is true. There should have been more like him. A great bloke who’ll be greatly missed.
A can of VB in hand. Real. An ad man to the last.
Browie was a terrific athlete and an even better ad man. He loved making good ads, supporting his creative departments and suppliers sometimes to his detriment. He was often misunderstood by usually those without his talents. I’ll miss his company at long lunches, for numerous beers, white wines and great stories. Go well Brownie and thanks for the squash lessons.
RIP Rocket. You will always be fondly remembered. When we met in the late eighties you impressed me with your passion for advertising and your love of running. You helped shape my advertising career and also inspired me to run a marathon! A great man who will be dearly missed.
Sincere condolences to the family.
I worked with Rod and Rocky at FMH, he was a great bloke and suit. Running into over the years he was always the same, someone you were glad to know. Bye Rod.
I played rugby with Rod at Mosman in the 80’s. All at the Club who knew him will be deeply saddened.
See ya Brownie.
i was fortunate enough to be part of quite a few of those lunches that usually turned into “dinner” at the Oaks. Subsequently the events of the previous day were discussed /pieced together on the paddock the next day playing rugby for Mosman
i will give you the $100 for those boots i got off you 30 years ago when we catch up in the top bar.
On behalf of my family, I’d like to thank everyone who sent us messages of love and support following dad’s death. No matter where he was, it’s clear dad made a lot of people smile. We held a beautiful service honouring him last week. Many wonderful stories were shared, proving dad even now knows how to light up a room. He will be missed terribly by all of us.
Sincerely,
Bonny Symons-Brown
I worked with him at mojo during the mid nineties. I was a newcomer to the industry, he always took the time to talk to me about the ad business. Sad to hear he has gone.
Farewell Rod, Thanks for teachimg me how to play squash, even if you did run me ragged for weeks on end. It was great working with you when you were running Rocket. And thanks again for the awesome wedding gift. Sorry we didn’t catch up over the past couple of years, you were a hard man to track down
I worked with Rod for a couple of years at Australia Post and we became quite good friends. I was retired professional man, similar to Rod, and we had a lot in common.
I was extremely saddened to find out about his passing as we had lost contact after I left Australia Post.
Any further details you could send me would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely
Martin Garrett