When Hamish McLennan arrived at advertising agency Young and Rubicam Australia as chief executive in 2002, he ripped up the floor, painted the office white and knocked down all the internal walls.
During his early days at Y&R McLennan became known as "the Hammer". No one can agree on where it came from. Some colleagues say it was because of his ability to get deals done quickly in the same way a hammer comes down at an auction. Others claim he hammered people who weren't performing. One person said he was relentless, like a hammerhead shark.
The origin of the nickname is not the only thing in dispute about McLennan. In the same way his bosses Rupert Murdoch and Sorrell have divided the industry, McLennan is one of the industry's most polarising executives.The Sydney Morning Heraldfor this profile and loathed by others. Several interviews began with a deep sigh or laugh. One call ended when his name was mentioned.McLennan doesn't tread carefully.
Among the ideas were a fresh set of ads for Yellow Pages, a new approach to bundling products and plans to target young people - a demographic Telstra was struggling to reach. "For Hamish it was real brownie points," says family friend and music promoter Harvey Goldsmith, who launched Live Aid. "All of the media agencies started to invite their big clients to Cannes. Y&R was always a big agency but it became a much bigger global agency under his chairmanship."
McLennan met his wife Lucinda at a party in Palm Beach as a teenager. They have two adult children, Olivia and Ted. The family has been a key reason for changes in his career.
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