Mitch Alison

Mitch Alison (born 9 May 1974) is an award-winning integrated writer, creative director and strategist from South Africa (now an Australian citizen living in Sydney).

Early life and education
Alison was born in JHB, South Africa on 9 May 1974 to South African parents. His father was a typesetter and production manager and his mother owns and manages a travel agency. The family spoke English at home, but Alison also learned to speak Afrikaans and a smattering of Zulu. The family were descended from early Dutch and English settlers dating to the 17th century. Alison can trace his roots to Andries Pretorius, one of the leaders of the Great Trek, and who the capital Pretoria was named after.

Alison spent most of his early life in Johannesburg. He attended Jeppe High School for Boys in the Johannesburg suburb of Kensington, a famous rugby school where the 2007 Rugby World Cup winning coach Jake White taught.

He later studied Copywriting and Strategic Planning at the AAA School of Advertising, receiving his diploma with specialisation in copywriting in 1994. He wrote his thesis on the Internet and its implications for advertising. At the time, there were only two internet access points in the entire country, so no one knew what he was talking about.

Career
in 1994, Alison got his first job at The Jupiter Drawing Room in Johannesburg. This was a tumultuous time in South African history. Apartheid was coming to an end, and the country's first democratic elections were about to be held. The country was in upheaval and his Mother was stockpiling cans of tomato soup. One of his first briefs was to promote the Democratic Party (South Africa). Alison spent 3 years at The Jupiter Drawing Room, honing his writing skills and winning awards.

In 1997, Alison moved down to Cape Town, where he joined Ogilvy & Mather RSTM, another famous South African ad agency.

After a short stint in Cape Town, he was offered a Creative Director gig at D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles. Having never been to Europe, he jumped at the chance.

Alison returned to South Africa and after a stint at Saatchi & Saatchi where he helped launch Guinness across Africa, he eventually landed up at TBWA Hunt Lascaris. Under Tony Granger, he worked on some of South Africa's premier brands, including BMW and Nando's.

In 2000, Alison was selected to represent South Africa at the Cannes Lions Young Creatives competition. Alison moved to Australia shortly afterwards.

Sabbatical
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In 2003, Alison planned and executed a mammoth, 30,000-kilometre, off-road motorcycle trip, up through the middle and all the way round Australia. The trip took approximately six months, and covered every state with the exception of Tasmania. He completed the trip on a heavily modified BMW R1100GS. Unlike Ewan Macgregor and Charlie Boorman from Long Way Down fame, Alison had no assistance at all.

Achievements and awards
Alison has gained many awards throughout his career, most notably at Cannes Lions and D&AD.

List of Awards (International, Australian and South African)

Adfest

 * SDCH 2009 finalist Direct Response Take me Home

ADMA

 * RSPCA 2007 Gold Effectiveness Pup vs Taxman
 * SDCH 2008 Bronze Ambient Take Me Home
 * Optus 2009 Bronze Website/Microsite Whale Song
 * Optus 2009 Bronze Telecomms Timeless

Art Directors Club

 * Yellow Pages 1997 Annual Print Origami

AWARD

 * Spastic Centre 2001 Silver Interactive Spas
 * Spastic Centre 2002 Entry TV Charity Lousy
 * Spastic Centre 2002 Entry TV Campaign Lousy
 * Optus 2009 In book Website/Microsite Whale Song
 * OPtus 2009 In Book Integrated Whale Song

Cannes Lions

 * Zoo Lake 1996 Gold Print-Newspaper Amazing
 * Zoo Lake 1996 Shortlist Print-Public Awareness Amazing
 * Yellow Pages 1997 Shortlist Print-Comm Pub Service Mouse
 * Yellow Pages 1997 Shortlist Print-Comm Pub Service Dinosaur
 * Yellow Pages 1997 Shortlist Print-Comm Pub Service Anteater
 * Nashua 2001 Shortlist Special outdoor Car
 * Nashua 2001 Shortlist Special outdoor Escalator
 * Nashua 2001 Shortlist Special outdoor Shower
 * Spastic Centre 2002 Shortlist Public Awareness Lousy
 * Cannes Media Lions
 * Nashua 2001 Shortlist Office machinery Copy

Cannes Young Creatives

 * South African Representative 2000

Caples

 * SDCH 2009 Bronze Out of home Take me Home
 * SDCH 2009 Finalist Ambient Take me Home
 * SDCH 2009 Finalist Collateral Take me Home
 * Optus 2010 Silver Website Whale Song

D&AD

 * SDCH 2009 In Book Direct Find me a home

Eagle Awards

 * (Judged by Hegarty, Marcantonio in 1996 and Neil French & Adrian Holmes 1997)
 * Yellow Pages 1997 Gold Corporate Origami campaign
 * Zoo Lake 1996 Silver Corporate Isn’t it Amazing

FWA

 * Site of the Day 09.09.09

Loerie Awards

 * Zoo Lake 1996 Finalist Public Service Amazing
 * Beacon Nosh 1996 Finalist TV Confectionery Nuts
 * MPA 1996 Finalist Newspaper-Media Promo Lemon
 * 5fm 1997 Finalist TV-Media Promo Hair
 * 5fm 1997 Finalist Cinema-Promo Biker
 * 5fm 1997 Finalist TV Campaign Hair, Biker,
 * Yellow Pages 1997 Finalist Newspaper-Corp Mouse
 * Yellow Pages 1997 Finalist Newspaper-Corp Dinosaur
 * Yellow Pages 1997 Finalist Newspaper-Corp Anteater
 * Yellow Pages 1997 Finalist Outdoor Campaign
 * Nashua 2001 Silver Ambient Shower

London International Advertising Awards

 * Zoo Lake 1997 Statue Print Amazing
 * Denel Corp 1995 Finalist Print-Ind Rambo
 * Denel Corp 1995 Finalist Print-Ind Salman Rushdi
 * Denel Corp 1995 Finalist Print-Ind David Copperfield
 * Denel Corp 1995 Finalist Print-Trade Campaign
 * TSW 1996 Finalist Auto Products OJ Walks
 * TSW 1996 Finalist Auto Products Dog
 * Heineken 1996 Finalist Outdoor Egyptian
 * Heineken 1996 Finalist Outdoor Japanese
 * Heineken 1996 Finalist Posters Campaign
 * Zoo Lake 1997 Finalist Public Service Isn’t it Amazing

New York festivals

 * 5fm 1997 Gold TV-Cinema Campaign Hair, Biker
 * Yellow Pages 1997 Gold Print Mouse
 * Yellow Pages 1997 Silver Print Dinosaur
 * Yellow Pages 1997 Bronze Print Anteater
 * 5m 1997 Finalist Media Promo Hair
 * 5fm 1997 Finalist Best Editing Hair
 * 5fm 1997 Finalist Cinema Campaign Hair. Biker, Girl
 * Zoo Lake 1997 Finalist Under half page Amazing

One show interactive

 * Optus Merit Websites Whale Song

Publications
Alison's work has appeared in numerous publications, including Lurzer's Archive, Communication Arts and most recently, in Directory 13.