Retail ad industry icon David Mattingly awarded Medal of the Order of Australia; legendary adman Michael Ball adds AO to his name
Australian retail ad industry icon David Mattingly, the former chairman and CEO of Y&R Mattingly, has today been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia Medal (OAM).
Equally legendary Australian adman Michael Ball (above right), the former chairman of The Ball Partnership (since morphed into WCRS, Euro, then Havas) was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), adding to a previously awarded AM honour.
Mattingly (above left), who retired in 1998, started his career at Monahan Dayman Adams in Melbourne in the 1970s where he eventually founded the agency’s retail arm MDA Mattingly. When Myer closed its advertising department it appointed the agency to handle its massive ad account. Others clients soon joined Myer at the agency, including Safeway.
MDA Mattingly eventually became Mattingly & Partners, then Y&R Mattingly, before folding into GPYR.
Good friend and former colleague Jim Aitchison, author of Cutting Edge Advertising, summed up Ball’s contribution to the industry in both Asia and Australia back in 2003.
Says Aitchison: “Ball has witnessed more change than most. He joined the fledgling Ogilvy & Mather New York in 1960, when there were fewer than 100 on the staff.
“Twenty-five years later in Asia, he founded one of the world’s most creative agency brands, The Ball Partnership. Today, he breeds cattle, serves on Australia’s National Trust and the board that runs the Australian capital, Canberra. David Ogilvy is still his advertising hero. ‘David was, to my mind, the most important advertising person in the 20th century. Like most people in advertising, he was egocentric, but he had something that no other agency had, or has now – a culture, which was written down and taught by gentlemen with brains. I was grateful to have spent 25 years of my life with a guy who was the true genius of the advertising industry.’
“Since Ball left the business, media departments have unbundled and conglomerates have grown bigger. Advertising heroes are thin on the ground. ‘Everybody has their heroes. Martin Sorrell isn’t one of mine, because he did it through finance. I don’t think Martin’s place in advertising will ever be what Bill Bernbach’s or David Ogilvy’s is.'”
5 Comments
Of all the people I worked for in 40 years in the business Mattingly was without doubt the best. Witty, erudite, unexpectedly empathetic, motivating, caring, straightforward, decisive, in fact a whole thesaurus full of praise words. Funny too. A delight to dine with, even when telling a 5 star chef how tripe should really be cooked. No less than a treasure was David.
Well done Mattingly.
The retail king is crowned.
Not only incredibly clever salesman,
but a very funny man
‘Everybody has their heroes. Martin Sorrell isn’t one of mine, because he did it through finance. I don’t think Martin’s place in advertising will ever be what Bill Bernbach’s or David Ogilvy’s is.'”
Well said Jim.
I always loved the name ‘The Ball Partnership’ and my testicles agree.
Mattingly! Qualified pharmacist, Channel 9 Sales Director, SANFL player, District cricketer who turned into the funniest, most entertaining person I ever met in advertising. Belated, but much deserved recognition of the amazing contribution he made to our industry. As big Dave would say, “Thanks son”.