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Ogilvy Australia resurrects national creative chief role as Steve Back returns home

Steve Back

Ogilvy Australia has hired a chief creative officer to oversee the agency’s creative product across both Sydney and Melbourne offices.

The appointment comes just over a year after Ogilvy scrapped a plan to install a national creative chief, a role former boss Tom Moult called ‘the most expansive in Australian advertising’.

He then said that the job, which covers one of Australia’s largest creative offerings, “would just be too hard”.

Moult, who left Ogilvy in August, said then: “It’s not the sort of role you could parachute someone in to do both jobs. It’s a role you could grow into, but not be hired into.”

Facing that task will be Steve Back, who will return home from Singapore – where he was creative head of Ogilvy – to be national chief creative officer, based in Melbourne.

Prior to his stint in Singapore, Back was ECD at Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney. He has also had spells at Colenso BBDO in New Zealand and DDB Australia.

Ogilvy Australia CEO Andrew Baxter said: “Steve is one of the region’s most renowned creatives and we are incredibly excited to have him join the Ogilvy Australia team. His broad experience on big brands and proven success with campaigns that really work for clients will be a great asset to our already strong creative team.”

Back added: “I’m really excited to be joining Andrew and the team in Australia. They’ve really hit their stride in the last 12 months with campaigns like Share a Coke. I’m looking forward to contributing to the agency’s continued success.”

He starts in his new role in February.

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