Profile on The Art of the Idea Author John Hunt

October 26th, 2009 by Amanda

A fascinating glimpse into the life of advertising leader John Hunt, which concludes with the tale of how Hunt’s agency helped independent newspaper The Zimbabwean attract new audiences earlier this year:

WHEN TBWA Hunt Lascaris relocated to Sandown last February, the movers broke down co-chairman John Hunt’s desk and an electronic bug fell out.
It was a legacy of an era when he worked on the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) campaign for the 1994 elections, when bomb threats and “third force” ops sabotaged the path of change for even the most maverick agency in the advertising industry.
“The bug was rusted and long out of service, and it disappeared with the rest of the junk that’s discarded when you move on,” says Hunt. “I should have kept it and had it framed as a memento of those crazy days. Then again, times right now are just as interesting. Change means new ideas, and if they’re any good they always make people nervous.”
At 54, the kid who dropped out of Wits university by lunchtime on his first day still lives by his instincts when it comes to making decisions. Picasso could draw a complete picture — a bull, a horse — with a single line, and Hunt’s book, The Art of the Idea (Zebra Press), takes an equally direct approach to finding simple ideas upon which megabuck advertising campaigns are created.