Mojo: the rise and fall of an Australian advertising empire
This week, documentary How Australia Got Its Mojo aired, hosted by Gruen and PwC’s Russel Howcroft and charting the history of one of Australia’s most interesting ad agencies. Advertising professor Robert Crawford looks back at some of the agency’s biggest and best campaigns in this crossposting from The Conversation.
Advertising agencies are full of confidence and self-belief, but only a few have the chutzpah to think they can take on the world. In the 1980s, Mojo was one such agency.
With the goal of becoming Australia’s first multinational agency, Mojo’s founders believed their success lay in their distinctive culture. While their unwavering faith in themselves and their approach would see Mojo briefly realise its goal, it also formed the basis of the agency’s demise.
The ABC’s recent documentary, How Australia Got Its Mojo, hosted by Gruen’s Russel Howcroft, presented a nostalgic account of the Mojo story. The real story is more complex – and offers a more fascinating insight into the world of advertising.
You might not know the name, but you would recognise the songs. Mojo was the advertising agency behind such classics as You Ought to be Congratulated.
Screenshot/YouTube
And that was probably one of the most uplifting, happy things I’ve watched in the last 20 years! Advertising as it should be. For ALL Australians.
wonderful how’s that