BBAM closes its doors as John Booth retires; Andy Bell continues as Andy Bell Advertising

October 31 2017, 10:05 am | BY Martin Trevaskis | 10 Comments

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After twenty years, BBAM will close its doors from tomorrow, November 1, following John Booth’s decision to retire.

“I’ve been contemplating retirement for 3 or 4 years now and finally decided it was time” said Booth (pictured). “Over the past 38 years I’ve enjoyed many wonderful industry experiences and met some equally wonderful people – both clients and in the media. Many of these people will remain friends for life. It’s important to thank all who have helped me in some way enjoy such a long and amazing career. I’m particularly grateful to Andy (Bell) and extremely happy he’s continuing to do what he does best – media planning and buying.”

Bell and Booth formed Bell Booth Advertising & Marketing in late 1997 – a very competitive time in the industry as ad agencies scrambled to keep clients with many major players headed East. Despite this, the boys hit the ground running and quickly went on to create huge success stories for local brands like Rick Hart and QBE Insurance. Ashley & Martin was an early foundation client.

“It’s been an absolute privilege to work with Boothy and with BBAM’s amazing clients and staff,” said Bell. “We forged memories and friendships that will last forever, and helped many clients build their brands from a low level of awareness to become household names. In particular, the last 8 years has been a huge success: with the help of our dream team of loyal staff, some key clients reached number one market share under our guidance. My sincere thanks to Boothy; with his calm resolve he’s more like a brother as well as an amazingly supportive business partner. I wish him all the best in retirement as I move forward into my new business venture with excitement.”

Bell will be starting his own advertising consultancy – Andy Bell Advertising (ABA) – and continue to look after the national and international media planning and buying interests of Ashley & Martin Medical Hair Centres, Steel Blue Boots, Outdoor World, Petrus Pharmaceuticals and Medihire & Sales.

And offering a consistent and coherent creative service to all BBAM clients, long-term Creative Director Dean Graham is on hand with his communications consultancy, Norlap Creative. With access to the BBAM server, Norlap Creative will continue to offer creative and production to all BBAM’s clients.