HHCL
Encyclopedia
HHCL was a London
based advertising agency
prominent in the 1990s. The firm won fame (and notoriety) for its innovative working practices and radical approach to marketing communications, and was voted 'Agency of the Decade' by Campaign magazine in 2000. After mergers and a name change to United London, the agency was closed in early 2007.
In 1994 the agency became the first to offer both above and below the line
advertising as well as PR, an initiative labelled 3D Marketing. HHCL was bought by Chime PLC
in October 1997 and
merged into the Red Cell Network in January 2002. The HHCL initials were finally dropped and the agency become United London in January 2006 before being closed down by its owner WPP Group
in early 2007.
HHCL believed that the quality of a company’s communications could lead to a real competitive advantage and produced a book written by Adam Lury: Marketing at a Point of Change which expounded this view.
HHCL prided themselves on being professional radicals -- a positioning later applied to the agency as a whole.
During a ten year period HHCL helped launched 3 new UK companies in First Direct
, Egg
& Go
. Their sister company Heresy also launched Ocado
.
During this period, HHCL also reenergised The Automobile Association
, Tango
, Pot Noodle
, Martini and Iceland
.
The company organised itself around project teams, making teams of account director, strategic planner
and creatives collectively responsible for creating work.
Early on in the process, clients were invited to 'tissue meetings' during which a range of early ideas were discussed.
This multiple route approach carried on through to creative development research. These were research groups carried out by the project team’s strategic planner and which were used to develop the work further.
Working this way, very few projects had to go back to the drawing board and resulted in the agency having sector beating margins of over 25% over a number of years.
The agency embraced the idea of hot desking
early on so that employees of various disciplines sat with each other.
The offices were designed to be open and vibrant, intended to be more like a newsroom
than an ad agency and new work and new policies were showcased in the agency's own in house TV show, The Howell Henry Show.
The agency also created several advertising firsts. They were the first to run two different ads concurrently on different channels, for First Direct in 1989. They were the first to advertise on the back of Tube tickets, for Mercury Communications in 1992. They were the first to create a TV ad that viewers needed to record and play back slowly, for Mazda in 1994. They were the first to place a web address on a commercial, for Tango in 1994 and they revolutionised sponsorship idents by using dialogue and live action for the first time for Tango's sponsorship of The Word
in 1994.
. Alongside the two commercials that aired simultaneously on ITV and Channel 4, one offering an optimistic and the other a pessimistic view, the agency created a number of short, surreal spots in which the visual had little or nothing to do with the message. It was these ads that gave HHCL its reputation for being avant garde.
The agency also bucked the trend of only showing beautiful people in advertising with a campaign for Fuji
. Using the line 'with the right camera and the right film, you can change the way people see the world' the ads showed a man with Down syndrome
smiling at the checkout girl in a supermarket and an old couple kissing.
In the early nineties, the agency created some commercials for Maxell cassettes using commonly misheard lyrics shot in the style of the video for Subterranean Homesick Blues
by Bob Dylan
HHCL's most celebrated piece of work was a commercial for Tango
in 1991 (co-written by Trevor Robinson OBE
). The ad took soft drinks advertising away from US lifestyle and planted it firmly on the streets of Britain. When a young man drinks some Tango, a large orange man runs up to him and slaps him on the face - the 'hit of real oranges' - while two astounded commentators report on the action. The commercial was voted the third best commercial of all time by Channel 4 in the UK. After children began copying the orange man's slap, the commercial was banned and reshot with the orange man planting a kiss on the Tango drinker.
In 1994 the agency rebranded the UK's vehicle breakdown service The Automobile Association
as The Fourth Emergency Service and was responsible for the endline 'It does exactly what it says on the tin' for Ronseal
.
In 1997, HHCL and the brand consultancy, Wolff Olins
jointly launched the airline, Go
.
Also in 1997, HHCL created the commercial St George for Blackcurrant Tango. The commercial was voted one of the 100 best commercials of all time.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
based advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
prominent in the 1990s. The firm won fame (and notoriety) for its innovative working practices and radical approach to marketing communications, and was voted 'Agency of the Decade' by Campaign magazine in 2000. After mergers and a name change to United London, the agency was closed in early 2007.
History
Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury & Partners was founded by Rupert Howell, Steve Henry, Axel Chaldecott, Adam Lury and Robin Price and launched on October 17, 1987.In 1994 the agency became the first to offer both above and below the line
Below the line (advertising)
Above the line , below the line , and through the Line , in organizational business and marketing communications, are different ways companies try and sell their products....
advertising as well as PR, an initiative labelled 3D Marketing. HHCL was bought by Chime PLC
Chime Communications (United Kingdom)
Chime Communications plc is a public limited company based in London, UK and listed on the London Stock Exchange. Chime is the holding company for a portfolio of 35 companies which include public relations, advertising, digital, marketing, deliberative research, corporate responsibility and...
in October 1997 and
merged into the Red Cell Network in January 2002. The HHCL initials were finally dropped and the agency become United London in January 2006 before being closed down by its owner WPP Group
WPP Group
WPP plc is a global media communications services company with its main management office in London, United Kingdom and its executive office in Dublin, Ireland. It is the world's largest advertising group by revenues, and employs over 150,000 people in 2,400 offices in 107 countries...
in early 2007.
Philosophy
The five founding partners had a vision of a new type of advertising agency and their irreverent, sharply intelligent and often controversial campaigns were a nod to a smarter, more ad savvy consumer. HHCL soon became an advertising 'hot shop', famous for irreverent and iconoclastic work. The agency was more interested in selling products than winning awards and set about finding the most creative, unorthodox ways of doing this.HHCL believed that the quality of a company’s communications could lead to a real competitive advantage and produced a book written by Adam Lury: Marketing at a Point of Change which expounded this view.
HHCL prided themselves on being professional radicals -- a positioning later applied to the agency as a whole.
During a ten year period HHCL helped launched 3 new UK companies in First Direct
First Direct
First Direct is a telephone and internet-based retail bank in the United Kingdom, a division of HSBC Bank plc. First Direct has headquarters in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and has 1.16 million customers....
, Egg
Egg Banking plc
Egg Banking plc is a British internet bank owned by Citigroup, with headquarters in Derby and London, England. Egg was born out of Prudential's initial banking arm , that had been established in 1996...
& Go
Go Fly
Go Fly was the name of an award-winning British airline. It was purchased by EasyJet.-History:Bob Ayling, ex-chief of British Airways, approached EasyJet's founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, to ask whether he could visit claiming that he was fascinated by how the Greek entrepreneur had made the budget...
. Their sister company Heresy also launched Ocado
Ocado
Ocado is a British Internet retailer specialising in groceries, headquartered in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The limited company was founded in January 2002 by Jonathan Faiman, Jason Gissing and Tim Steiner, former Goldman Sachs merchant bankers....
.
During this period, HHCL also reenergised The Automobile Association
The Automobile Association
The Automobile Association , a British motoring association founded in 1905 was demutualised in 1999 to become a private limited company which currently provides car insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans and motoring advice, and other services...
, Tango
Tango (drink)
Tango is a carbonated soft drink sold primarily in the United Kingdom and Ireland and from 2010 in Sweden, Norway and Hungary as well, first launched by Corona in 1950. Corona were bought by the Beecham Group in 1958, and Beecham Soft Drinks were bought by Britvic in 1987...
, Pot Noodle
Pot Noodle
Pot Noodle is a brand of ramen-style instant noodle snack foods, available in a selection of flavours and varieties. Its dehydrated mixture consists of wide noodles, textured soya pieces, assorted dried vegetables and flavouring powder. The product is prepared by adding boiling water, which softens...
, Martini and Iceland
Iceland (supermarket)
Iceland is a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Iceland's primary product lines include frozen foods, such as frozen prepared meals and frozen vegetables - hence the name of the company...
.
How the Agency Worked
Account planning
Medium to large-sized advertising agencies divide their work into various departments, traditionally splitting functions into interacting with clients and looking out for their interests , buying advertising , and creating advertising...
and creatives collectively responsible for creating work.
Early on in the process, clients were invited to 'tissue meetings' during which a range of early ideas were discussed.
This multiple route approach carried on through to creative development research. These were research groups carried out by the project team’s strategic planner and which were used to develop the work further.
Working this way, very few projects had to go back to the drawing board and resulted in the agency having sector beating margins of over 25% over a number of years.
The agency embraced the idea of hot desking
Hot desking
Hot desking originates from the definition of being the temporary physical occupant of a work station or surface by a particular employee. The term hot desking is thought to be derived from the naval practice, called hot racking, where sailors on different shifts share bunks...
early on so that employees of various disciplines sat with each other.
The offices were designed to be open and vibrant, intended to be more like a newsroom
Newsroom
A newsroom is the place where journalists—reporters, editors, and producers, along with other staffers—work to gather news to be published in a newspaper or magazine or broadcast on television, cable or radio...
than an ad agency and new work and new policies were showcased in the agency's own in house TV show, The Howell Henry Show.
Innovations
HHCL was responsible for a number of firsts in the UK advertising industry. As a major ad agency, they were the first to offer above the line, below the line and PR. They were online by 1993 and were the first to give mobile phones to their staff in 1994. They were the first to embrace hot desking and the first to use project teams to create work. They were the first to create an in house TV Show and employ a futurologist and a Shaman.The agency also created several advertising firsts. They were the first to run two different ads concurrently on different channels, for First Direct in 1989. They were the first to advertise on the back of Tube tickets, for Mercury Communications in 1992. They were the first to create a TV ad that viewers needed to record and play back slowly, for Mazda in 1994. They were the first to place a web address on a commercial, for Tango in 1994 and they revolutionised sponsorship idents by using dialogue and live action for the first time for Tango's sponsorship of The Word
The Word (TV series)
The Word was a 1990s Channel 4 television programme in the United Kingdom.-Format:Its presenters included Mancunian radio presenter Terry Christian, comedian Mark Lamarr, Dani Behr, Katie Puckrik, Jasmine Dotiwala, Alan Connor, Amanda de Cadenet and "Huffty"...
in 1994.
HHCL's Most Famous Work
In 1989, HHCL launched the banking service, First DirectFirst Direct
First Direct is a telephone and internet-based retail bank in the United Kingdom, a division of HSBC Bank plc. First Direct has headquarters in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and has 1.16 million customers....
. Alongside the two commercials that aired simultaneously on ITV and Channel 4, one offering an optimistic and the other a pessimistic view, the agency created a number of short, surreal spots in which the visual had little or nothing to do with the message. It was these ads that gave HHCL its reputation for being avant garde.
The agency also bucked the trend of only showing beautiful people in advertising with a campaign for Fuji
Fuji (film)
Fuji is a 1974 art film which explores director Robert Breer's artistic rendition of a train ride past Japan's Mt. Fuji, using line drawings, rotoscope and live action....
. Using the line 'with the right camera and the right film, you can change the way people see the world' the ads showed a man with Down syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
smiling at the checkout girl in a supermarket and an old couple kissing.
In the early nineties, the agency created some commercials for Maxell cassettes using commonly misheard lyrics shot in the style of the video for Subterranean Homesick Blues
Subterranean Homesick Blues
"Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, originally released in 1965 as a single on Columbia Records, catalogue 43242. It appeared 19 days later as the lead track to the album Bringing It All Back Home. It was Dylan's first Top 40 hit, peaking at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also...
by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
HHCL's most celebrated piece of work was a commercial for Tango
Tango (drink)
Tango is a carbonated soft drink sold primarily in the United Kingdom and Ireland and from 2010 in Sweden, Norway and Hungary as well, first launched by Corona in 1950. Corona were bought by the Beecham Group in 1958, and Beecham Soft Drinks were bought by Britvic in 1987...
in 1991 (co-written by Trevor Robinson OBE
Trevor Robinson OBE
Trevor Robinson, OBE is a creative director and founder of Quiet Storm, the London-based advertising agency and production company. A dedicated philanthropist, he heads a drive to encourage the UK's creative industries to embrace those, who like him, come from ethnic minority backgrounds.After...
). The ad took soft drinks advertising away from US lifestyle and planted it firmly on the streets of Britain. When a young man drinks some Tango, a large orange man runs up to him and slaps him on the face - the 'hit of real oranges' - while two astounded commentators report on the action. The commercial was voted the third best commercial of all time by Channel 4 in the UK. After children began copying the orange man's slap, the commercial was banned and reshot with the orange man planting a kiss on the Tango drinker.
In 1994 the agency rebranded the UK's vehicle breakdown service The Automobile Association
The Automobile Association
The Automobile Association , a British motoring association founded in 1905 was demutualised in 1999 to become a private limited company which currently provides car insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans and motoring advice, and other services...
as The Fourth Emergency Service and was responsible for the endline 'It does exactly what it says on the tin' for Ronseal
Ronseal
Ronseal is a British wood stain and preservative manufacturer, responsible for the "Does exactly what it says on the tin" phrase, an advertising slogan created by agency HHCL which has since entered popular culture....
.
In 1997, HHCL and the brand consultancy, Wolff Olins
Wolff Olins
Wolff Olins is a brand consultancy, based in London, New York City and Dubai. It employs 150 designers, strategists and account managers, and has been part of the Omnicom Group since 2001.-History:...
jointly launched the airline, Go
Go Fly
Go Fly was the name of an award-winning British airline. It was purchased by EasyJet.-History:Bob Ayling, ex-chief of British Airways, approached EasyJet's founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, to ask whether he could visit claiming that he was fascinated by how the Greek entrepreneur had made the budget...
.
Also in 1997, HHCL created the commercial St George for Blackcurrant Tango. The commercial was voted one of the 100 best commercials of all time.