With Busty now spreading herself – quite literally, I hear – around the Burlesque scene, it’s time for this column to have an injection of testosterone. That’s right folks, Ivan Idol is back, and the Busty Bonus is now consigned to the back alley, where it no doubt belongs.
To be honest, it’s been a pretty manic time for me. You see, I am still keen to set up this damn direct and digital agency, although as anyone will tell you, getting the right partners can be a tricky business – let alone getting the backing.
The agency landscape is full of partners who fell by the wayside pretty early on or never quite lived up to the billing.
Just ask former WWAV staff whatever happened the ‘V’. You’d be lucky to find anyone who knew his name was Varndell in the first place (I remember one former PR girl at the agency thought his name was Vongole), let alone tell you why he quit after just a few months.
As far as I can recall the ‘E’ (David Evans) in EHS 4D has lived in Oz for nearly 15 years, following a mix-up with his, ahem, expense account. And where did Messrs Hewitt and Benson go from the original line-up of Hewitt Ogilvy Benson & Mather?
Anyway, maybe you can see now why I’ve been through more partners of late than little ‘ol Busty herself.
As you may recall my original partner, Harry ‘Clanman’ Hands, decided to move back north of the border, scuppering the imminent launch of Idol Hands.
My next step was to draw up a wish-list of the industry’s finest. First on the list were Ben Stephens, Terry Hunt and John Townshend. OK, they are all gainfully employed in their own businesses but you can but dream, and I really thought Stephens Hunt Idol Townshend had a great ring to it. Ben would get in the money, Terry would get in Tesco, John would get in the old school tie network, and I’d do all the work – no change there then.
The thing is, one of the major considerations when setting up an agency is how the name will fit in the headlines at industry wank mag Campaign. It is no coincidence that ‘Yellowhammer’ went bust, back in the day. The name simply wouldn’t go in the allotted headline space.
Then it suddenly it struck me, my dream agency was doomed from the start… the acronym for Stephens Hunt Idol Townshend is SHIT! And while no-one ever got fired for hiring IBM, I reckon our name might create a bit of a stink.
Ah well, back to the drawing board…
Follow Busty on Twitter @BustyIdol
