There’s a Famous Punk Musician in Adland’s Midst
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Years before he was hatching digital marketing strategies for clients, Dave Allen was a bona-fide rocker. His transition from bass guitarist for the famous English post-punk band, Gang of Four, into advertising is a fascinating career turn. And it’s one that exemplifies the ability for agencies today to mine for top talent in the most unexpected places.
He may not have been trained in a portfolio school, but consider Mr. Allen’s ability to break through the pop culture clutter. Along with the original members of Gang of Four, Jon King, Andy Gill, and Hugo Berman, he put out a debut album, “Entertainment!” that was dubbed among the top 100 albums of all time by Spin Magazine. Rolling Stone named it amongst the top 500. And Sophia Coppola used one of their hits as the title track to her movie ‘Marie Antoinette.’ If he could achieve those sorts of results for himself, why not for clients?
After leaving Gang of Four in the 1980s and dabbling in a few other rock bands, he began exploring the then-nascent Internet world. He worked at eMusic.com and was director of consumer digital audio services at Intel. From there he broke into the agency business, working at Portland firms such Overland Agency, Nemo Design, Fight and finally, North, where he is currently a director of interactive strategy.
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