gordon torr

Born in South Africa, Gordon worked as a butcher's apprentice, a high school teacher and  journalist before venturing into the world of advertising in 1981. He worked at several advertising agencies before moving to Mexico City as Creative Director of JWT, Mexico, in 1997. Gordon was transferred to London in 2000 as JWT’s Global Creative Director for De Beers and two years later was appointed Creative Director of J. Walter Thompson, Europe, Middle East and Africa. He has worked on many of the world's largest multinational brands and with an extraordinary variety of creative people.

 

An English and Psychology graduate from the University of Natal, Gordon has long been fascinated by the peculiar nature of the creative personality and the circumstances under which it's most likely to flourish. While researching and writing his book Managing Creative People, Gordon founded The Unfactory, a consultancy specializing in how to help companies get the most out of their creative people by stimulating creativity and innovation within their organization.

 

 

Through The Unfactory, Gordon has worked with the University of the Arts, London, and been engaged as a consultant to Lowe (Eastern Europe), Live (Omnicom, London), Leo Burnett (Europe), Global Beach Digital Group (London) and several former clients. He has  lectured at ESPM University of Marketing, Sao Paulo; University of Monterrey, Mexico City; and the University of London, Camberwell and conducted training sessions and workshops in Bogota, Sao Paulo, Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Milan, Dublin and Brussels.

 

Gordon's reputation as a highly entertaining and controversial speaker on the subject of creativity has been earned at advertising and marketing conferences around the world— from Moscow to Miami, and from Buenos Aires to Budapest. While his Exit Five lecture series is aimed at more specialised audiences in the creative business sector, he is equally eloquent on a broad range of more general creative subjects such as media trends, popular culture, the cult of celebrity, the digital divide and many more. He is the perfect ice-breaker for internal company conferences having anything to do with innovation and creativity, but he is also available for public engagements, forums, debates or bespoke after-dinner speaking. 

 

Gordon currently lives in London, with his wife, Karine, and three children. He is a professional painter, a keen amateur musician and an aspirant rock legend. He recently coached the Merton U14 girls cricket squad to gold at the London Youth Games.

 

 

 

 

 

Award-winning Creative Director and former Chair of the Worldwide Creative Council of J. Walter Thompson,  Gordon Torr is an expert in the field of managing creative people. His eponymous book is the culmination of a lifetime's learning in advertising, teaching, journalism, painting and songwriting. He is internationally renowned for his radical views on innovation and corporate creativity, and for his proprietary coaching techniques delivered through a stimulating lecture series entitled : Exit Five.

E-mail  gordon@gordontorr.com