Bill Muirhead

William "Bill" Mortimer Muirhead AM is an Adelaide-born senior Australian advertising executive and the Agent General for South Australia in London. He took the position in 2007 at the request of Premier Mike Rann.

Career

Muirhead was a founding partner of advertising company, M&C Saatchi and as of 2015 continues as the company's Executive Director. The other founding partners were David Kershaw, Maurice Saatchi and Jeremy Sinclair. He is a former chief executive and president of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, when he was based in New York. Muirhead worked on British Airways advertising campaigns for two decades and on numerous Conservative Party political campaigns. He also worked with Qantas, Toyota, BP, News International and the COI.[1]

Muirhead's career in advertising began in 1970 with Ogilvy & Mather, and he joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 1972.[2]

He was also a co-founder of the Famous Porkinson Banger Company in 1985 with Norman Parkinson and Paul Arden.[3]

In 2014, Muirhead was appointed as a non-executive director of Executive Channel International (ECI).[4]

Politics

Muirhead has a keen interest in politics, and has listed Question Time as his favourite television program. His work in advertising helped advance the interests of the Conservative Party in 1991 and lead the advertising team that helped the party win the 1992 election. With Jeremy Sinclair, Muirhead picked up the Conservative Party's election campaign in 2010 and designed an attack campaign targeting Gordon Brown. Reflecting on the process, he said:

"A simple thing that I learnt from doing this work was that you never win an election by doing what I call positive campaigning. You only win by attacking your opponent, because that’s what people remember."[1]

Muirhead was appointed Agent General for South Australia by Premier Mike Rann in 2007. In 2015, his tenure was extended to 2017. The announcement was endorsed by politicians from Labor and Liberal parties, including: Premier Jay Weatherill, leader of the Opposition Steven Marshall and Australian High Commissioner to Great Britain, Alexander Downer.

Muirhead organizes the South Australia Club, which was founded in London in 2011. Members include people connected to South Australia through business, politics, academia, media and the arts.[5]

In 2013, The Independent wrote of Muirhead that "he explains, with surprising earnestness, how he is banging the drum for foreign investment (in South Australia) in everything from defence to mining."[6]

In May 2015, Senior government sources told The Advertiser that Muirhead is one of few agency officials to have direct access to Premier Jay Weatherill.[7]

In September 2016, Muirhead accompanied Premier Weatherill on a delegation to Onkalo, Finland's underground nuclear waste storage laboratory, following the recommendations of the 2015-16 Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission in South Australia. Madeline Richardson, the CE of the Department of the Premier & Cabinet's Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Agency (CARA) and John Mansfield, chair of the CARA's Advisory Board were also members of the delegation.[8][9] Muirhead told The Advertiser that he was not concerned about nuclear waste storage negatively impacting existing food and wine exporters. He said of the subject:

"Any fear I had about that has been put aside. I think the more that people understand about the whole process and cycle, the less the fear is. I actually love the idea of us being pioneers and doing things first."[10]

Honours

In 2013, Muirhead became a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia, for significant service to the community of South Australia through the promotion of international trade.[2]

Personal life

Muirhead is married to Jeanne, and they have three adult sons. He grew up in Adelaide where he knew the Murdoch family.[6] Muirhead moved to London as a teenager.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Maurice de Rohan		 Agent-General for South Australia
2007–present 		Incumbent

References

  1. 1 2 Delaney, Sam (2015-02-12). "Fear and advertising on the campaign trail". Campaign.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
  2. 1 2 "Bill Muirhead AM, Agent General". Office of the Agent General for South Australia, London. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
  3. ↑ "The A List - Bill Muirhead". The A List. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
  4. ↑ "Kim Williams among three senior appointments to Executive Channel board - mUmBRELLA". Retrieved 2015-05-24.
  5. ↑ "South Australia Club". workready.statedevelopment.sa.gov.au. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
  6. 1 2 Spanier, Gideon (2013-12-05). "Adman Bill Muirhead is living the dream twice over". The Independent. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  7. ↑ Hough, Andrew (2015-05-15). "Bill Muirhead: top London advertising businessman awarded new Agent General tenure as Adelaide's key Europe 'cheerleader'". The Advertiser. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
  8. ↑ Wills, Daniel (2016-09-19). "Jay Weatherill tours Onkalo, world's most advanced nuclear waste disposal facility in Finland". The Advertiser. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
  9. ↑ "Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Response" (PDF). Government of South Australia. 2016-05-17.
  10. ↑ Wills, Daniel (2016-09-21). "Finland's Onkalo nuclear waste disposal facility want to export the technology to South Australia". The Advertiser. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
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