Cheers, Rod


Back in December 1985, I ran (or tried not to interfere in other people running) Britain’s biggest direct marketing agency.

We were being courted by many of the big groups – I think we had conversations with eight of the top twenty. Eventually it came to make-your-mind-up time.

We had two choices. Grey Advertising and Ogilvy and Mather. We went and had dinner with Grey, who were making the better financial offer.

Their main negotiator was rather aggressive. He kept asking why we would want to stick around once the deal was done.

This was stupid for three reasons. First, we had to, as it was in the contract. Second, the question impugned our honesty. Third, we had pride in our reputation..

So I went to the toilet with my partner, and suggested we should tell them to fuck off, which we did.

Ogilvy and Mather were gentlemen. They had strong beliefs – especially in educating their people. They stood for something.

The other people stood for nothing except making money. So we did a deal with Ogilvy.

I made a lot of money – which I no longer have. The person who, very largely, made this possible was a very talented young man called Rod Wright.

The chief reason for his success was an ability to motivate, a very good mind, a great sense of fun which he communicated to all of us (he is the only person I know whose shenanigans got him a full page in the Sun newspaper) and an eagerness to take on any challenge.

He was amazingly good at getting new business. This was uncanny. I cannot explain quite how he did it, as he was one of the most hesitant speakers I have ever met.

For five or six years we were very close. Then we each went off in different directions, into the corporate stratosphere.

This week he died suddenly. A dreadful shame. In a world of corporate drones, he made the right kind of difference.

Cheers, Rod.

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

2 Comments

  1. So sorry to hear of your loss, Drayton–he sounds like he made a big impact in your life and was fun to be around. 🙂

    Apryl

  2. DaveC

    My condolences.

    The world is so short of fun people… it’s sad to hear another one is gone.

    The obit didn’t say, naturally… did he leave us any wisdom — the way you’re doing?

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