Another blow to The Palace, Melbourne as Ted Horton’s Big Red scores Target without a pitch
March 16 2012, 3:41 pm | | 46 Comments
CB Exclusive – CB hears Target has moved its ad account out of The Campaign Palace, Melbourne into Ted Horton’s Big Red Agency without a pitch.
Horton has done projects for Target for some time, so the win was not totally unexpected.
Target – which has been with The Palace since the mid 80s – is part of the Wesfarmers Group and Horton already holds Wesfarmer’s owned Coles account.
At time of writing Ted Horton was not contactable, currently on a plane back from Japan.
More on this as news comes to hand.
46 Comments
Well done Big Red.
Just shows that advertising goes in cycles…welcome back to a good old singalong.
Next it will be good old fashion classic print advertising that’s crafted beautifully.
Hang on for the ride adland… that’s if you want to make some money.
Well done again.
This is kinda old news. Ted’s been doing stuff since end of last year. The latest stuff with all the fatties in it is obviously aimed at a lowest common denominator type demographic, but within that area I must say the current K Mart stuff shits all over the current Target ads. This will be shown in the next quarter’s figures, mark my words.
Fucking sweet. Another gig!
Well done Mackay, Paterson & Harold.
So long Palace, you had a good run
Good things happen to good people.
Haha.
Guess what happens when agency heads are back in the ’90″s and haven’t changed as the industry does.
Explains why so many talented people left over recent years.
Well done Ted. A great client.
I would kill to be in one of Ted’s creative prezos, to get an insight into how he rolls.
Well Done.
@Old News. Ok, I’ll take the prediction from a dude on the internet, who doesn’t put his own name to it, as if it were fact.
I know you won’t let me down again.
Great, so now the Target ads are like the Coles ads are like the…
Reckon the Palace should be pretty proud of the work they did for Target.
And the fact that they had the business for more than 25 years.
I’ll tell you how he rolls.
ONE TRICK PONY
I must agree with Bullseye. 25 years is not a bad run, and some good ads came out of it.
And shame on those that lost it.
I’ve loved the target stuff.
So, how many classic pop songs you can think of with the word target in? C’mon, let’s steel some thunder peeps!
Karma, Ted is firmly stuck in the 80’s and he took the business nonetheless. So it can’t be just that.
Whenever I read the words “Ted Horton’s Big Red” my mind always asks “Ted Horton’s Big Red What?”
So… are we placing bets on which classic Weird Ted Yankovic will parody for this one?
Advertising that works – shame on Big Red!
It’s ok to be a one trick pony if the trick is a really good one.
All the greats in the world excel at just one.
And make a career of it.
Why else do we pay $300 a pop to watch OAP rock stars hobble on stage and recreate a night of magic?
More power to them.
And tears to young ‘uns who can only watch & weep as they try their best to be jack of all trades in this ‘attention challenged’ world.
Its Ted Horton’s Big Red Spot Special….anthem is bad re write of dirty deeds done dirt cheap.
Great.
Those animated Target ads from the 80s will be better than anything this guy comes out with.
Whatever happened to ‘smart’ retail advertising (aka Harvey Nichols, VW) penetrating our shores? Still hasn’t happened?
Ted is much more multi-faceted than many of the juniors on this site give him credit for. Sure his work for Coles has been excruciating, but I suspect it’s all planned that way, possibly to give the brand a cheap-price/everybody/mainstream feel. His work some years ago for APIA was tailored to the over 50’s market. He understands big brands. Senior business figures trust Ted because he speaks with great conviction, experience,seems to have an extraordinary grip on his subject matter and reeks wisdom. He also has a history of success. His work works. How many of you can honestly claim to have that sort of business gravitas? Unfortunately in the eyes of clients, most creatives are an embarrassing curiosity, to be tolerated as a necessary novelty. Like I once was.
I think Ted is laughing all the way to the bank. Well done Ted.
The smart people in this business understand what niche Ted’s carved out for himself. It mightn’t be their idea of great advertising, but I reckon if you asked Nobby, or The Monkeys, or McGrath, or anyone with serious creative credentials their opinion of Big Red’s work, it’d be a lot more positive than you’d think. In a world of ‘me-too’ agencies he’s done the very thing we all try and do – create a unique positioning for himself and his agency. How many of us can claim that?
Lynchy would know best, but when I started in this business,Ted and Chris Dewey were the gun creatives in town. They were always on top of the Campaign Brief Creative League. So, for all those kids out there, I think he knows the difference between good and bad advertising better than most.
@Smarts
You obviously have fuck all creative integrity just like TH.
Jesus, can’t you see what he is doing. He’s destroying our industry and confirming what people already think of us.
There’s nothing clever about annoying, dumped-down commercials.
Give me a break. I worked with Ted on a big pitch. A master creative thinker and leader. And Target a great win. Well done Ted and team.
Its been a good run, they have done some great work, but time moves on. Goodbye Palace Melbourne.
The fact is, the current team at the palace melbourne lost Target. An account the agency had for years and all the other Clients over the past couple of years.
If Target hadn’t gone to Ted, it would have gone somewhere else.
Maybe you are all jealous it was Ted that won it and not you?
More to the point, what kind of leadership is at The Palace Melbourne? Somewhat questionable.
Surely this loss of revenue is the death of the Pal ACE, Melbourne AND Syd
(check out their website)
The Campaign Palace died along time ago….. RIP
‘…fuck all creative integrity just like Ted Horton’.
‘he’s destroying our industry..’
n said [march 17, 5:52 pm], you need a serious reality check.
If this industry has a problem, Ted Horton doing advertising that works for his clients isn’t it.
The only people whose creative integrity is at question are those self-indulgent ‘creative wankers’ more interested in their next award entry than their client’s success.
When you grow up, you’ll understand that.
Not sure who I feel sorrier for; the staff at the Palace or the wider Australian public who now have to endure even more of Big Red’s condescending and generally offensive retail.
Big Red, where quality is a word we use.
I call bullshit on all this ‘shit work that works’. Give me a midget shitting in a hallway with the media budget they have and I’ll have Darren Hinch and every bogan all over it.
Fact is, it’s dumb-dollar advertising. And we all know it.
Smarts – the unique position he’s carving in Australian advertising?
Most ads here are shit. So he’s going for fossilised shit I’m taking it?
Do something fucking decent, for fucks sake, and don’t let the media budget dictate what’s successful. We’re already lucky if we get 10% thanks to shit ads like these.
What’s all this ululating about Target advertising turning to crap under Ted?
It’s been average or worse for years, in case you haven’t noticed.
Good on him.
If I could go back and start “Brandpower” or any other agencies that make a killing from doing shitty retail, I’d do it in a heartbeat and would have been retired by now.
Sadly, this is the work that clients love.
But no, I am stuck trying to sell award winning ideas to clients who do not want them in a desperate attempt to prolong my ailing career.
Love to see what ‘give me an ad-break’ would do if it he owned a supermarket and had to use his own money to promote 20% off Granny Smith apples for 3 days only!
If Ted’s work is so bad, put your money where your mouth is, start your own retail agency and shows us all how it should be done.
Good luck trying to sell great work to most clients who are often too young, too nervous to run work that deviates from the mediocre, the predictable or the well-trodden mainstream or simply too focussed on what their boss will think.
I tried it for several decades with mixed results and eventually gave up. Mostly, good work is pearls before swine. In fact, at one agency we had a saying “Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig.”
I think there’s something in that for everyone who works in advertising.
It’s depressing, but in truth it’s an easier life and a lot less disappointing if you do as Ted (now) does. All it requires is a conscience by-pass.
From the moment Ted first walked in the door he would have been pitching his pants
off , you’d be incredibly naive to think otherwise.
Apologies if my response is crap, I’ve had 30 seconds to think of this.
If I owned a supermarket and needed to flog a bunch of Granny Smith apples for 3 days only, I’d get the farmers to complain loudly in the press that their apples are being sold too cheap at Coles, at the same level as cheap-shit Chinese / NZ imports, which reduces the perception of quality.
Cheaper than Normie Rowe. A little smarter as well.
It’s all a game boys, and I’m winning this week.
Most creatives: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTY5EKN6bzM
Big Red: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9EbOXYenJY
Oh no, not another ‘coles’ ad. So bad for the industry.
Good run Palace, and good luck!