Early Advertising
In 1981, Rob joined Lintas (now Ammirati Puris Lintas) where he was primarily attracted more to the industry of advertising than the particular agency. Here he met Rod Meadows, who gave him a crash course on many aspects of the industry.
"It was an 'Amazing Experience.' Rod was some one who believed in drilling communication theory, a historical perspective of brands and marketing, manufacturer vs. retail, copy testing. He taught me about planning, advertising, communication, brands and most of all business. Rod was an evangelist at heart. His mission was to make the entire industry better. And to do that he went to the worst agencies to try and make them develop advertising that was not so patronizing to consumers"
During this period, Rob realized that his planning expertise was not fully effective due to the culture of the agency.
"Planning was not effective in a cultural environment where the creatives are beaten down and the account executives controlled the key client relationships. What I could do was not appreciated or wanted by the agency at large, so I left and went to Chiat/Day Los Angeles."
Rob spent 4 to 5 years with Rod at several agencies in London until his move to Chiat/Day in 1985. In his "Transition to America", Rob finds out the power that planning can have on developing successful advertising campaigns.
Childhood / Growing Up / Transition to America / Minneapolis