Farewell Robyn Putter
Robyn Putter was born in Benoni and grew up in Boys’ Town because his mother could not afford to keep him at home.
Maybe it was growing up as an orphan that made him so determined to make something of his life. He told me that Boys’ Town either makes you or it breaks you. Well, it certainly made him.
I had the privilege of working with Robyn Putter for ten years at Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg, and what a ride it was! In those ten years he had an 85% hit rate when pitching on new business, at times picking up one or two clients a week. Under his leadership the agency grew from ten people when I joined to over 300 when I left.
His genius to me was evident from day one, as I was watched him create one landmark campaign after another for brands like Sales House, Black Pride, M-Net, Castle Lager and IBM, amongst many, many others. Who will ever forget his IBM elephants ad, for instance, or his three-minute ‘We Will Rock You’ blockbuster for Sun City?
What was it like working with him?
In my 30 years in advertising, I have worked with a lot of creative directors. Most have huge egos that run rampant. They spend most of their time trying to demonstrate just how brilliant they are, and just how stupid you are.
Robyn was not like that. He had an amazing ability to bring out the best in everyone, and never made you look or feel like a fool. He had an uncanny ability to spot a great idea a hundred miles away. He would often go through your waste paper bin with you to make sure you hadn’t let a great idea get away.
I always thought that if there where a whole pile of fake diamonds on a table and just one real one, he would be able to spot it straight away.
His ability to think laterally and to think out side the box was phenomenal.
I remember once battling to solve a particular problem I was having with an ad and just couldn’t, even after speaking to the other creatives. I was ready to give up, when Robyn came walking by and he sensed I needed some help. Within a few seconds, he came up with a brilliant solution. I was stunned by how easily it came to him.
He truly was a genius. He could art direct better than the art directors, he could write better than the writers, and direct better than the film directors. He was also a better suit than any of the suits. He had the talent and the ability to be an incredible one-man ad show, but he always managed to pass the credit onto someone else, rather than take the recognition for himself.
I once told him that even if he didn’t pay me, I would still come to work for him. He laughed – but that is the kind of dedication he inspired.
At the peak of a brilliant career, Robyn Putter was appointed creative director of WPP, the biggest group of ad agencies in the world, including Ogilvy and J. Walter Thompson.
A year ago he was diagnosed with throat cancer. He died on the 1st March 2010 at his home in Camps Bay. He was 59.
Roger Makin said this about Robyn: “Most people just puff away at advertising. Robyn inhaled it.” In doing so, he inspired a generation of people around him.
What a great man. The ad industry has lost a leader, a thinker, a maverick, a humanitarian and one hell of a nice guy!