Tribute paid to planning legend Charlie Robertson by former The Leith Agency chief
Tributes have been paid to Charlie Robertson, the founder of Red Spider and celebrated advertising planner for over thirty years, who died suddenly this week.
Charlie Robertson, celebrated planner at BBH and The Leith Agency
Robertson, who worked across the UK at agencies such as The Leith Agency, BBH and ultimately set up his own business with Red Spider, was originally a civil engineer before entering the advertising business with Boase Massimi Pollitt.
He founded the planning department within The Leith Agency when he moved to Scotland, after 16 years building his reputation in the London industry, to raise his family, working under it’s then boss, John Denholm.
Denholm offered the following tribute: “What I remember most from our time at Leith was Charlie’s sheer panache. We were starting to land big, national accounts and had to pretend not to be a little scared of the big names we were suddenly dealing with. Charlie strode up from London with his big agency experience and Glasgow swagger, and took on even the toughest, most confident clients with his humour, confidence and sharp intelligence.
“One of his favourite tricks was to walk into a planning presentation weighed down with a reassuringly heavy pile of acetates (anyone remember them?), and then hurl them into a corner telling the startled client ‘you don’t need to see any of these. I’ll just get straight to the point. Here’s what you need to do…’
“But, he was confident, never arrogant, and one of the friendliest, supportive, most down to earth guys in a business, where there will be many people feeling a big loss today,” Denholm concluded.
Robertson worked with clients such as Lego, BBC, Unilever, P&G and Heineken through Red Spider, which also has a presence within Asia, the Nordics and Baltics, alongside the UK. He was also an executive in residence at the University of Oregon’s school of advertising and journalism and an honorary member of the Account Planning Group.