So, what do you reckon is the biggest story of the week? Jonathan Harman off to Royal Mail? Jason Andrews joining Rapp? The Digital Hall of Fame? LBi going for £33m? Nope – although more of those later – the biggest story is that the launch of my Uncle Ivan’s agency, Bone Idol, has been put on hold yet again…
That’s right folks, apparently the bank has already pulled the plug on the finances so he needs to find a new business partner, and pronto. So guess who he’s roped in to leading the search. Yep, you got it, yours truly.
However, there is one nasty sticking point; he’s insisting on keeping the prefix Bone Idol. Now I must admit it does have a certain ring about it, but even my feminine charms are being stretched to the max to get anyone to sign up.
The thing is, I did hear a rumour that Jonathan Harman was looking for a ‘new challenge’ so I called him up on Monday. Mistake number one: I phoned him at lunchtime. His opening gambit was: “Don’t ever come between me and my lunch.” Mistake number two: He wasn’t too chuffed that the agency was going to be called Bone Idol Harman. In fact, that’s when he revealed he’d already signed up to lead direct mail’s fightback at MarketReach.
Ah well, he said he wanted a new challenge – and he should know exactly what not to do. According to my sources, when Harman was at Claydon Heeley Royal Mail fired them from the account.
Next up I called Jason Andrews, who also wasn’t particularly happy to be associated with the name Bone Idol Andrews either. In fact, he was so annoyed he signed up to Rapp within minutes of my offer. All the more bizarre given that his boss – Rick Haslam – had just slagged off every DM creative in the land in a blog on Brand Republic.
I did try a few more contacts but to a man all they wanted to do was Bone Busty Idol. So, fearful of what my Uncle might say if I went back empty-handed, I decided to visit Ad:tech – home of the digital guru.
Now is it just me or are most of the digital people really ugly? Well, I thought, at least I could try for a ‘sleeping partner’ for the agency, even if I didn’t get one for myself.
But before I knew it I was bundled into a side-room for the Digital Hall of Fame ceremony. And, having seen only three women in the first top 20 inductees, I have to admit I was rather gob-smacked. I mean, don’t they know who I am? I’ve got nearly 40 Twitter followers for god’s sake.
Mind you, after a little backstage persuasion, where I swallowed my pride – and a lot more besides – I have now secured a nomination to be number 21. Apparently it goes to a public vote, but hey, who could resist little ol’ Busty?
As for that sleeping partner for the agency, I’m afraid the search continues. However, I did manage to find one for myself when I came across – figuratively speaking, of course – a director of LBi. OK, he was a minging geek, but it’s surprising how you can see through the spots and the Joe 90 specs when you found out a man holds a substantial stake in a £333m business…
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