Lowe Bull Cape Town recently welcomed Porky Hefer as the new Creative Director of the agency. Fresh out of New York, he was attracted to the position because he loves Africa and was missing the relative freedom of the South African ad industry. But most importantly, he says, it was a challenge - and an opportunity - he couldn’t refuse.
Having only joined the agency in April this year, his influence is already apparent. There is a sense of renewed energy, enthusiasm and creativity within the creative department and the agency as a whole. And it shows - the agency has staged a comeback at the CDF Ad of the Month Awards over the past two months.
Porky is best known for his work on Levi’s, Nando’s, BMW and Epol Dog Show, and has won his fair share of local and international advertising awards.
He hasn’t had much time to settle in to his role, but he already has a few opinions on the Cape Town agency. “It’s cool, but small”, and “It needs to grow”. The challenge, of course, is how to grow the business in a fairly saturated market. The answer, says Cape Town’s new CD, is to do things differently to other agencies and, of course, to do exceptionally good creative work.
Lowe Bull Group Managing Director, Gillian Rightford says “It’s a great reflection on the Cape Town agency that such a well-respected creative is so excited to be part of the future of the agency.”
When asked for his opinion on Matthew Bull’s departure, and how he thinks it will affect the agency, Porky said that Cape Town was already running without Matthew, and the negative perceptions that have arisen from the departure have come from within the ad industry, not the agency.
Porky’s is a refreshingly upbeat and positive attitude to the SA ad industry. He is enjoying being back home where, he says, we are spoiled in South Africa as far as creativity goes. One of the joys of the local industry is that it is still relatively free of constraints, although the amount of research being conducted here is catching up with overseas. This from a man who admits that coming home had a little bit to do with escaping from advertising by committee.
With his talent and passion for the business, there’s no doubt that Lowe Bull Cape Town’s creative output will go from strength to strength under his leadership.
