How This Former Farmer Turned His Advertising Companies Into a $3.7 Billion Empire Chris Clarke, Executive Chairman of Empower Media, learned everything he needed to know doing daily animal chores.
Key Takeaways
- Clarke's early farm life taught him that consistent, dedicated work leads to bigger opportunities.
- After a wake-up call from his father, Clarke transformed from an unfocused university student into a driven entrepreneur.,
Two hours south of Melbourne, Australia, a young Chris Clarke spent his afternoons in a rural ritual that would shape his future success: two hours of daily animal chores, seven days a week, rain or shine.
From cows to peacocks, the menagerie demanded attention—and taught him lessons that would later help him build and sell multiple global advertising agencies.
"If you don't feed animals, they die," Clarke says. "You've got a responsibility you've got to honor."
That sense of responsibility would prove crucial when Clarke entered Monash University. Without the structure of farm life, he faltered spectacularly, spending more time drinking beer and surfing than attending classes. His entrepreneur father's response was swift but loving: he cut off support, telling his son, "If you tried, you would have passed all your subjects, at least."
A wake-up call
Faced with zero money and zero prospects, Clarke got his act together quickly. He took a brutal janitor job working 12-hour night shifts Thursday through Saturday while simultaneously landing what he calls "the ultimate shit-kicker" position at a PR agency.
"My job was to wash the boss's car, put gas in the boss's car, get the boss's lunches," Clarke recalls. "But when you have passion for those really small jobs, it's amazing someone will trust you for a bigger job and a bigger job and a bigger job."
Within a year, he had leapfrogged several levels at the agency while maintaining his janitor job and pursuing a double degree in finance and arts. He discovered his creative side during this period, beginning with theater directing and moving into music videos.
The big break
Clarke's trajectory changed dramatically when he got the opportunity to direct a Mars commercial. Unsatisfied with the script, he rewrote it, creating the blue M&M campaign to transform the brand. Soon, he found himself presenting to John Mars himself, who named Clarke's agency their global partner.
"I learned really quickly that all the marketing jargon is valuable for foundation, but it really doesn't have any output," Clarke says. "It's around the simplification of the message and getting a brand to solve a consumer problem in the most simple way."
Building global empires
By his mid-20s, Clarke had built Pure Creative into a global agency with seven offices, handling accounts for Mars, P&G, and Coca-Cola. He sold it to Leo Burnett in December 1999 for $50-60 million. After his non-compete expired, he founded Nitro in Shanghai, again with Mars as the founding client. The agency grew to serve global brands like Unilever, Nike, and Foot Locker.
Nitro later merged with Sapient to become SapientNitro, which ultimately sold to Publicis for $3.7 billion at $25 per share. The secret to this meteoric rise? Clarke credits his farm-bred work ethic.
"Every job we did was critical, no matter how small," he explains. "When you behave like that in business, clients, companies, people will give you more and more opportunities."
The next chapter
Today, Clarke is changing the agency model again by reuniting services that holding companies have traditionally fragmented. His current venture, Empower Media, combines brand strategy, creative, media planning and buying, data analytics, and entertainment—a return to the comprehensive approach pioneered by advertising legend David Ogilvy.
This strategy has led to some notable successes: helping transform Sprouts Farmers Market from a sub-$20 stock to $155, revitalizing Jockey through a partnership with Luke Bryan, and working with private equity firms like KKR and Apollo to turn around their portfolio companies.
"We don't gel with a client that wants to get the 3% incremental growth," Clarke says. "The right partner for us is someone who's like, 'I need to transform this business, and I'm willing to look at things with fresh eyes.'"
Between transforming businesses, Clarke indulges his creative passion as a Broadway producer, bringing classic plays to new audiences. He splits his time between Palm Beach and New York City, combining Florida's weather with New York's cultural energy.
It's a long way from those early morning farm chores—but the lessons learned there continue to drive his success. Whether feeding animals or creating global brands, Clarke's formula remains the same: treat every task as critical, outwork the competition, and never forget that no job is too small to do well.
