University News Last updated 19 November 2013
Advertising guru Trevor Beattie says his profession has helped him fulfill all aspirations – and the biggest opportunity still lays ahead, a trip to space.
Trevor, an honorary graduate of Birmingham City University, will reveal how “the world of advertising has led a working class son of a car mechanic to aim for the stars”. But despite his lofty ambitions Trevor says his Birmingham roots have kept him firmly grounded in the real world.
‘From Balsall Heath to Outer Space – how advertising will take me to the stars’ is the title of Trevor’s talk which is hosted by Idea Birmingham, a Birmingham City University think tank that celebrates the region’s design excellence.
The talk will be held on Thursday 21 November, at the University's Parkside Building, a new state-of-the-art home to Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD), part of Birmingham City University. The free event is already a ‘sell out’ but to register for a reserve ticket visit https://trevorbeattie.eventbrite.co.uk/
Space-obsessed Trevor, who is friends with former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, signed up for a trip to space in 2005 when entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson announced plans for commercial space travel, which could blast off as early as next year. Beattie is set to join 579 passengers who have signed up for the trip of a lifetime – an amazing journey made possible by a brilliant career in advertising.
“The profession of advertising has enabled me to express each of my personal creative interests - from politics to charity, to movie-making to space travel,” explained Balsall Heath-born Trevor.
“Only a career in advertising would have given me the chance to meet and work with such icons as Muhammad Ali, Buzz Aldrin, Richard Branson, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela.
“From push-up bras to party political broadcasts, Baftas and battles with the Advertising Standards Authority - advertising has always encouraged me to embrace it all.
“For me, my job is and always has been a blast. And next year it will blast me to space with Branson's Virgin Galactic. The first ad man, if not the first Brummie, in space. I relish seeing that headline.
“But I have always kept in touch with my family in Brum. In fact, my Birmingham roots have always kept me ‘grounded’, no matter how lofty my ambitions have become.”
Trevor is the advertising mastermind behind the eye-catching French Connection FCUK and Wonderbra’s Hello Boys campaigns. Trevor was given an honorary doctorate by Birmingham City University in 2011 in recognition of his outstanding achievements in media and advertising.
In 2005 Trevor set up the advertising and PR agency, Beattie McGuinness Bungay, which soon achieved success after being awarded Marketing’s Creative Agency of the Year in 2008, after just three years of trading.
To support young design talent, the Jack and Ada Beattie Foundation – set up by Trevor – presents an annual scholarship to a Visual Communication student from the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD), part of Birmingham City University.