30 from 30. The people who helped shape the industry and Campaign Brief: Bruce Shorter

For Campaign Brief WA’s 30th anniversary, over the thirty days of June we’re looking back on 30 people who helped shape the industry and us.

Bruce Shorter was one of Perth’s great ad men: charismatic, inspirational, passionate, dedicated and fun.

When Campaign Brief started in 1984, Shorter had already been part of the industry for more than twenty years. His agency at the time was Wiburd & Shorter. When Alan Wiburd left mid-year, multinational FCB took up a shareholding and the agency was renamed FCB Shorter.

At the beginning of 1986, Bruce was joined by his wife Debra and together they made it one of the leading agencies in Perth, with various incarnations over the next fifteen years as FCB Shorter, Jenkin Shorter FCB (briefly), Shorter & Partners and finally The Shorter Group.

They experienced some of the highest highs but also suffered some terrible lows. Tenaciously, they always fought back with help from some of Perth’s leading advertising lights. John Ilian, Ric Cairns, Malcolm MacLean, Wayne Vinten, Simon McQuoid, Craig Buchanan, Matt Eastwood, Nicole Lennox-Gray and Alan Taylor are just some of the agency’s illustrious alumni.

A hallmark of Shorter’s career was his willingness to help make the industry overall a better one, whether through the AFA, mentoring young people, or just lending his support to various industry initiatives.

As head of the WA chapter of the Advertising Federation of Australia in the late 80s, Shorter was a high-profile and eloquent spokesperson for the industry, which saw him win our first Ad Person of the Year in 1987. After taking back full ownership and reinvigorating his agency in 1995, he was a hugely popular Ad Person of the Year for a second time when the award was presented at the inaugural Oasis Ball in 1996. It was fitting that he should receive the accolade in front of his peers who held him in such high regard.

Alas, Shorters never won Campaign Brief’s Agency of the Year. Despite going very close on a couple of occasions, they always seemed to get pipped at the post.

The loss of their cornerstone Burswood Casino account in 2001 saw them finally pull up stumps and merge with Marketforce at the beginning of 2002. It was a blow to the Shorters who had invested so much of themselves in their agency but typically, they preferred to look forward rather than back and set about making a strong contribution at Marketforce.

As well as being a fabulous source of news and views for Campaign Brief, Shorter also wrote a regular column for us for a short while. Characteristically, he used it to celebrate the positive things about the industry that he loved so much.

Bruce Shorter retired in 2004 after a forty-four year career in advertising. A final interview with Campaign Brief was typical Shorter – still smiling, remembering the good times, the campaigns, celebrating the successes, not wasting energy on regrets.

To be in Bruce Shorter’s presence was to be instantly swept up in his enthusiasm for the industry and just plain joy at being alive. He was indeed one of Perth’s great ad men.