Tom Hennah
SENIOR . Copywriter, Specialist writer
I was sixteen the first time an ad stopped me dead in my tracks. It was for Chanel No.5. I only saw it once, just before Christmas. I remember thinking what an incredible job it would be to make ads like that. It didn’t occur to me at the time that the mysterious world of advertising could be a career path for me.
After a stab at business school followed by industrial design, I’d used up all my bursary entitlement. So I turned to the only interesting career option I could think of that accepted people with a double major in dropping out.
Fast forward twenty-odd years and I’ve recently finished a six-year stint at Colenso BBDO, where I was fortunate to work under CDs Mike O’Sullivan, Toby Talbot, Richard Maddocks, Steve Cochran and Nick Worthington. But I certainly wouldn’t say that means I know it all. After all, the never-ending challenge in this job is to find brand-new ways to stop people dead in their tracks.
Print headlines, like these two for BMW:
What the winners were wearing at the Engine of the Year Awards. (The visual was an exterior shot of the car.)
Engineered by Germans. Priced by a Scotsman. (Entry-level BMW.)
“I made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter.”
Blaise Pascal
Since that insightful comment back in the seventeenth century, information overload and shorter attention spans have made it even harder to get your message across. So, my first priority is a captivating idea. From there, I focus on getting the message across quickly and simply.
Woodstock
To help Woodstock protect their No.1 position in an increasingly cluttered market, this 'social etiquitte' campaign informs people of appropriate times to have a 'Woody'.
BMW Z4 (Billboard)
We only had two billboards to launch the new Z4, so we wanted to make sure they were noticed.
Real Groove Magazine (TV)
Sometimes life can be pretty boring. But, somehow, when you're listening to good music everything seems much better.
Air New Zealand Cook Islands (Print)
The Cook Islands joined forces with Air New Zealand to let people know they could escape the gloomy economic climate by taking a holiday in a 'Recession Free Oasis'.