Michael Hogg: The granddad of advertising

the doyen in the industry with a formidable reputation as a leader of the Zimbabwean advertising industry.

With a career spanning over several decades, most of the senior executives in the advertising industry will testify that Michael Hogg Young & Rubicam was a torch-bearer in the industry.

A passionate believer in excellence in whatever he does, Hogg stands out as a perfectionist among his peers who have tremendous respect for his achievements.

At its peak before he disposed of his agency nearly six years ago, Michael Hogg Young & Rubicam was one of the few agencies in Zimbabwe to win at the Cannes Awards.

Hogg made a dramatic comeback into the industry this week when he was appointed executive chairman of the Jericho Advertising and the Jupiter Drawing Room and Partners, an appointment that will most definitely transform the agency.

Athough he had been operating in the background consulting for a number of firms, Hogg’s undying passion for the industry never waned.

He strongly believes that there should a shift where companies were told by ad agencies on what to include in their advertisements.

“We have to vigorously pursue the avenue of utilising the influence research has on the marketing departments in their brief to ad agencies and that is what we will be reinforcing at Jericho and its partner agencies.”

Hogg began his career in 1964 at Lintas Durban. After a stint at Afmal Advertising Group in Johannesburg, he partnered with two directors at Afmal to launch De Villiers & Schonfeldt Advertising Group in Johannesburg, an agency which grew to become the largest advertising agency in that country within three years.

He was transferred to Zimbabwe in 1972 to open and launch De Villiers & Schonfeldt Zimbabwe. He subsequently bought out De Villiers & Schonfeldt to form Michael Hogg Advertising.

After a number of acquisitions and partnerships, the agency became Michael Hogg Young & Rubicam in 1989, becoming the dominant force in the Zimbabwean advertising industry for the next 16 years.

A number of the agency’s clients were serviced for a period of more than 30 years.
At a function to announce his appointment in Harare this week, Hogg said when Jericho Advertising and The Jupiter Room chief executive Denford Magora approached him and offered him the leadership position, he was taken aback as he did not expect it.

“I wondered why Denford would approach a person like me to lead such a vibrant agency. However, it did not take me long to make up my mind and I accepted after considering the progress that Jupiter had achieved in just three years after being launched. It is amazing,” he said.

Hogg said the thrust in the organisation would be on developing the company into a formidable force in digital advertising and leverage on the partnership of its innovative South African partners.

Married with two daughters and five grandchildren, Hogg is a keen golfer and well known at Royal Harare Golf Club.

Some of the corporate responsibilities that Hogg has include: