Adrian Miller quits JWT India
May 31 2011, 12:04 pm | | 19 Comments
Adrian Miller, JWT New Delhi’s Chief Creative Office, has resigned from the agency just 10 months after joining the agency. The move, effective at the end of June, comes after two months of speculation over Miller’s future in India.
In a release from the agency, Colvyn Harris JWT’s CEO said “Adrian is a very talented and accomplished creative and has decided to leave for personal reasons. The agency will revert to the earlier structure of 5 ECD’s based on respective client needs.”
Miller said, “Owing to personal reasons I have decided to leave India. Having worked throughout Asia I am familiar with the challenge of moving across countries and cultures.”
19 Comments
“Owing to personal reasons I have decided to leave India. Having worked throughout Asia I am familiar with the challenge of moving across countries and cultures.”… Just come out and say it, too tough, too challenging, I had to leave before I killed somebody.
He argues, “Maybe it depends on the calibre of the expats. I know Bruce was not exactly a highly prolific creative individual in the region. The other guy I don’t know. But I had the top agency in the region and have done that for years. I am the number one ECD (executive creative director) in Asia. It’s not like I am coming here as an unknown factor in the Asian advertising industry.”
He adds rather philosophically, “There are many reasons why people don’t last in jobs. I could equally say that of a lot of the Indian and Asian guys. It depends on what people bring, what they are actually doing, how they add value. I don’t see this as a white, an Indian or an expat thing. I see it as an ideas thing. Perhaps with these other individuals the mandate wasn’t right, the backing wasn’t right or they were not good enough. I don’t know.”
8.23 Is there another article we’re missing here?
Like him, love him or hate the guy’s guts, you have to admit that Adrian Miller is a creative force to be reckoned with. Look at the guys work. For years I have heard all sorts of rumours about Adrian and his temper, his personal life, and his choice of hats. I never listened to one of them because the score board doesn’t lie. And besides, people who spread gossip are poison. Oddly enough there seems to be no shortage of these hapless bastards. Adrian has consistently created the finest work in the region and single-handed kept the Saatchi flag flying high. He pushes people for one good reason: to do better. WPP is poorer for his loss. JWT is top heavy with adroit politicians that learned how to play musical chairs at a young age. Probably the most dangerous of them all. Take a closer look and you will see them. Then ask yourself, are they creative or just manipulative? They are suck ups, ass-kissers and bottom -dwellers. The whole notion of Asians for Asia is ridiculous. Any forward thinking client that wants to build a brand should fire their agency and snap this guy up immediately. Everyone talks about changing the agency model, but people like Adrian can actually make it happen. Good luck, Dude!
8.23 selective cutting and pasting….???
The full article:
https://my.jwt.com/public/jwt_net.nsf/documents/4CD187A2020D85438525779A00494A74?OpenDocument
@8.23
Sorry, a bit confused about the two quotes in your comment. Where are they from?
Yup 10:19. There was a previous Interview with Adrian Miller In CB (I think) when he joined India JWT. He basically said all the other expats who had tried to work in India had failed because they were useless and he was going to save the day…
1:54 nope Adrian never said that. The journalist stated that expats keep failing in India and asked Adrian why he thought this was so.
Good luck mate!
To be fair to Miller, he is arguably one of Asia’s finest adfolk. Quite unlike the `Didi’ guy who he was gracious enough to extricate from the Saatchi deadwood.
Guess the ‘personal’ reasons he cites are really the ‘persons’ who comprise JWT Delhi’s archaic management. Notably someone called Ori who had the nerve to lament Delhi’s poor creative standards as justification for the agency’s imports from, not London/Amsterdam/New York, but (hold your breath) Malaysia. For the records, India’s Cannes haul far outweighs that of KL.
Of course, the blame must also be shared by Harris, the head of JWT India. He has eroded all the Cannes glory that the (now, ex) Mumbai team helped build two years ago.
JWT India has always been like that, Adrian. For years, they wanted to change. Hired good creatives who’re expected to bring that change. But they never change internally. Fugged up, innit? Anyway, fancy a game of ping pong when you’re back in KL?
@11.52
Awesome tribute to a splendid man mate! It’s a known fact in Saatchi circles that Adrian Miller and Ed Choe were the creative heroes who kept the agency’s haul respectable. Not just in Malaysia, but across South East Asia. While Saatchi’s Singapore Scamsters were pathetic with winning for real briefs (scam after scam of bitty print shame), KL’s Ed and Adrian delivered stellar stuff across all media, and for solid brand challenges too. Hang in there mate – your best is yet to come!
Miller did a sensational job at Saatchi KL. Won awards and won and kept accounts. Good luck to you in your next move
@ 12:25 forget ping pong lets play some JUDAS FXXCKNG PRIEST!
So what are the personal reasons?
you would think with all the money he got he would buy a new hat ?
Hahaha. 2.58, it’s really funny when you think he owes you an explanation.
@12.25 haha. what have you been smoking?
“People management skills” are also important. Winning Awards is not the only thing that keeps an Agency in its top form.
U right! his people management skills are “sucks”. He better go for a People management course before he screws up the next Agency. While he was in S&S K.L, the Agency lost GAB ( Guinness Anchor), good creative people. His usage of the word “F–K” in the client serv dept was just too often. Boy, is peaceful without him!!!!