University News Last updated 03 February 2011
Birmingham-born advertising executive and media columnist, Trevor Beattie, will receive an honorary doctoral degree from Birmingham City University on Tuesday 8th February in recognition of his outstanding achievements in media and advertising.
Trevor’s advertising campaigns have won him renown throughout the media world. He is best known for a string of high-profile campaigns, most notably for the Wonderbra “Hello Boys” poster campaign in the 1990s featuring Eva Herzigova.
Trevor masterminded the controversial French Connection campaign FCUK and is also famous for his ad campaigns for the Labour Party in the 2001 and 2005 General Elections, which included the infamous Hague with Thatcher’s Hair billboard in 2001.
He won awards for his work as Creative Director and Chairman at top ad agency TBWA/London, where his clients included PlayStation and Playtex.
In 2005 Trevor set up the advertising and PR agency, Beattie McGuinness Bungay, which achieved immediate success, winning 16 of its first 20 new business pitches. Now the agency lists Carling, Ikea, McCain and Selfridges among its clients.
Trevor moved into filmmaking in 2008, and won a much coveted Bafta award for the film “Moon”, directed by David Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones.
Trevor is now about to take his media skills to a whole new level; he will devise the marketing campaign for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic Space Tourism Programme. Next year, he is set to become the advertising world’s first-ever fare-paying Space Traveller.
He will receive the award at 3.45pm on Tuesday 8 February at the Awards Congregation ceremony which will celebrate the work and achievements of students graduating from the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design.