Alexander Brody was a representative of a world that has disappeared forever, of true civic pride, broad culture, and effortless elegance.
Alexander Brody passed away on February 12. He was one of the most interesting people I knew. He could ask the most exciting questions. He was always curious. And I can say for sure that I have never met a more polite person than him. And I won't: Sándor was a representative of a world that has disappeared forever, a world of true civic self-esteem, refined taste, broad culture, effortless elegance, and seriously regarded traditions. His grandfather, Sándor Bródy, and his uncle, Sándor Hunyady, represented Hungary – with strict seriousness and laughing self-irony at the same time. He could converse with a waiter or taxi driver with the same distinguished attention as with an academic or prime minister. He could casually mention what it was like to have lunch with Einstein, breakfast with Ferenc Molnár, to create the world's largest advertising agency, and then leave it at the peak of success, making you wish you could immediately swap your life with his. I owe my career change and entry into the book industry to his advice.
From delivery boy to CEO
I have read many beautiful tributes to him from writers, artists, and publishers. Rightfully so, as he has been a patron of Hungarian literature since the regime change, founded a literary award, published books and a magazine, and he also wrote books. However, for most of his life, this was not his profession. He was one of the international superstars of the advertising industry. In contrast, the agencies he led to success for decades did not remember him. Not because they didn't like him, but because they didn't even know who he was.
Those working in the advertising industry like to advertise that they live half in the future, while they can't see beyond the present. The memory of the advertising profession is sadly short; it doesn't even remember what happened last year, let alone its own heroes. For their sake, I will tell who Alexander Brody was in the advertising industry.
In 1953, during the golden age of advertising, he joined the Young & Rubicam agency as a delivery boy, of which he became CEO nine years later and international president from 1970. (One character from the particularly popular TV series Mad Men among advertisers was modeled after him.) He is credited with, among other things, building the Ferrero Italian confectionery brand into an international brand, for which he invented a German-style and a French-style chocolate. He named one Kinder and the other Mon Chéri.
The most humane boss in the advertising industry
So there would be plenty of reasons to remember him as a creative professional, but he achieved the most as a manager. He proved that it is worth applying moral considerations in the advertising industry as well. When Ferrero, to which he owed so much success and money, treated the agency's representative humiliatingly, he traveled to Milan and fired him. Not his employee, but the client. He said he could find a wealthy client anytime, but not such a great employee. As the head of the multinational company, he introduced the practice of having lunch once a week with six different employees, anyone from a creative designer to a delivery boy could sit at his table. He explained this by saying that he wanted to learn from them. It is no coincidence that he was considered the best manager in the advertising industry and the most humane boss.
He retired in 1987, but he couldn't stand idleness, so he took on the presidency of Ogilvy and Mather for five years. This is something in the advertising industry like someone leaving FC Barcelona and taking over Liverpool as a farewell. And in the meantime, he was also the president of the World Advertising Federation. This is like being the president of FIFA alongside Liverpool.
So now the former organizations he led do not remember him. Neither Young & Rubicam's successor, VMLY&R, nor Ogilvy has acknowledged him on the companies' international platforms or the domestic subsidiaries' websites and social media. The IAA (World Advertising Federation) has not either, although he roughly made it an important international umbrella organization from a mere sighing office. Respect to the Hungarian Advertising Association, which bid farewell to him as its own deceased.
Dear advertisers, there is such a thing as the past. It is a great investment to get to know it.
Featured image: Fiala de Gábor / Creative
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