Ted Powell
ARTHUR (TED) POWELL


Education: Diploma of Fine Art, St Martins School of Art, then Ealing School of Art London.
BA Advertising, Ealing Polytechnic, London.

Employment history:
JWT Melbourne, Auckland, Taipei, Detroit, London and Bangkok. Creative responsibility for the
Ford Motor Company account:
Regional Creative Director, north-east Asia (2002-2005)
Regional Creative Director, Jaguar Europe (2001-2002)
International Creative Director/senior partner (Detroit), responsible for all creative outside
North America (1999-2001)
Regional Creative Director, Asia/Pacific (1994-1999)
Creative Director, New Zealand (1990-1994)
Creative Director, Melbourne (1988-1990)
Previous positions:
Creative Director, Masius Melbourne (1985-1988)
Creative Group Head, JWT Melbourne (1983-1985)
Partner, United Notions Melbourne (1980-1983)
Senior Art Director, USP Needham (1976-1980)
Senior Art Director, Leo Burnett London (1970-1976)
Created and directed some memorable advertising campaigns for Shell, Ford Motor Company,
Wilkinson Sword, Laminex, Mars, Whiskas, Kimberley Clarke, GE, Telecom, Libra, National
Australia Bank, Kodak, Australian Airline Resorts (Dunk, Keppel, Lizard Bedarra Islands) and the
Liberal Party (1987 national and Northern Territory elections).

Awards include: MADC, New Zealand Print Awards, Axiem, Caddy, London International
Awards, TACT, Worldfest International Film and Television Awards, Creative Media Award Asia-
Pacific.

Significant achievements:Ford Global Anthem (1999) Ford Motor Company (120 second television commercial).The Anthem was an individual response to a challenge by Ford Global CEO, Jaques Nasser at the Ford Global Business Unit conference in Detroit in 1997 to come up with advertising ideas that ‘scare me – surprise me’. As a result, there was no client brief to the agency for this project and I was responsible for the concept/development/production. The branding spot celebrated the new Millennium and became one of the biggest commercial productions in US advertising history, and the world’s first global media roadblock (Guinness Book of World Records).
The three-minute commercial was broadcast over 140 pan-regional and local market networks in
190 countries simultaneously on November 1 1999 and reached an estimated one billion people.
Advertising archivists at Duke University’ (USA) ranked Anthem alongside iconic television commercials I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (Coca-Cola 1988) and Face (British Airways 1989) as historically significant. The TVC was shot in nine countries over a three-month period.
Over 500 people were involved with the production.
The sound track Just Wave Hello was co-written with Melbourne-based British composer Danny
Beckerman and recorded by Charlotte Church for Sony Records (UK). It became the title track on her second album Charlotte Church (1999), and included in Prelude: The Best of Charlotte Church (2002), and Classics for a New Century (2003). Sales reached double platinum and the song reached number five on the classic charts (UK/USA) in January 2000. Now tagged as a contemporary classic, Just Wave Hello was credited with exposing Charlotte to a worldwide audience. It was performed at the opening of the Rugby World Cup in 1999 and at the official millennium celebrations in the UK and numerous concerts around the world; the commercial won sixty international advertising awards, including gold at the 2000 London International Advertising Awards for television/cinema.

Other hit records: Taiwan (1995-7). Conceived, created and produced with composer Danny Beckerman sound tracks for five Ford Liata commercials using famous Asian pop stars. Four of the recordings were made by two of the ‘Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings’ as they are described in the Chinese-language media: Jackie Cheung (Cheung Hok Yau) is widely considered the world’s most respected Chinese pop singer and actor/musician Andy Lau Lau Tak Wah) was ‘number 1 box office actor’ in Hong Kong from 1985 to 2005 and continues to have a huge fan base in Asia.
The following songs became tracks on their albums, and two reached double platinum in sales in
Taiwan and Hong Kong:
Jackie Cheung: Ni Ai Ta (You Love Her) and Farewell, Sony Records
Andy Lau: Love is a Miracle and Darling, Sony Records
Sandy Lam (Kik-Lin): Say Goodbye, Rock Records
Ford Report (1990) TVC concept/strategy development
The advertorial format I created in New Zealand for Ford was adopted and developed in Australia and internationally under the name Ford Today. It went on to become the most successful corporate campaign Ford produced - and their first truly global communication tool. Ford Today appeared at one time or another in over twenty countries and in almost as many languages, with 500 episodes in Australia alone. It consistently researched strongly and when supported properly significantly improved attitudes toward the company and brand.
Professional Interests:
* Challenging creative and communication boundaries
* Generating a strong sales base for client’s products
Personal Interests:
Exhibiting painter
Solo Exhibitions
2006 20 days in the Kimberley, Angela-Robarts-Bird Gallery, Melbourne
2007 South Portraits, Angela-Robarts-Bird Gallery
2008 Australian Landscapes, Angela-Robarts-Bird Gallery
Selected Group Shows
2005 The Discovery Art Show, Gasworks
2006 Landed, Gasworks
2007 Contamination, Gasworks
Collections
Paintings in private collections in Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Singapore, London, Bangkok,
Tokyo, Athens, Cologne, New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Hong
Kong, Taipei

Enquire about Ted Powell