Leo Burnett Sydney hires five senior creatives
Leo Burnett has hired creative directors Malcolm Caldwell, Ian Broekhuizen and Mel Du Toit and creative group heads Nigel Clark and Adrian Ely.
Related links:
- ‘What the fuck are u thinking?’: Cindy Gallop’s tirade at Leo Burnett’s all white male hires
- The ad industry’s secret shame
The announcement:
Leo Burnett Sydney has added some firepower to its creative department, announcing five new senior appointments.
Adding further depth to the agency’s creative resources are highly-awarded Creative Directors Malcolm Caldwell, Ian Broekhuizen and Mel Du Toit and Creative Group Heads Nigel Clark and Adrian Ely.
Between them, the five Creatives have worked on major brands across multiple industries and continents and have been recognised at the highest levels for their creative achievements, accumulating hundreds of local and global award wins.
“Grant McAloon and I have spent a long time looking for new talent and we’re thrilled to have five of the best minds joining our ranks. They join at an exciting time for the agency and we can’t wait to see what their combined talents will deliver for our clients,” Leo Burnett Sydney Joint ECD Vince Lagana said.
Malcolm joins from Clemenger BBDO Sydney, where he was Creative Director. In over 15 years in the industry, Malcolm has also held senior copywriting roles at leading agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi London and Publicis Mojo Sydney. He was Creative Group Head at DDB Sydney and Executive CD at Inferno. The new appointment is a return to Leo’s for Malcolm, who was a copywriter at the agency in 2000. His work spans all media for clients including Sony, Visa, Wrigley’s, Honda, Tip Top and Fujitsu.
Ian joins Leo’s from his CD role at Clemenger BBDO Sydney. He previously worked with Publicis Mojo and DDB Sydney, where he landed after relocating from South Africa in 2010. Ian spent seven years working at Ogilvy Johannesburg – the country’s most awarded agency. As Creative Group Head, he was responsible for the BP and Cadbury’s accounts and produced work for the likes of KFC and Coca-Cola. He has also worked on Virgin Australia, McDonald’s, Telstra, Toyota, PayPal, Lion Nathan and VW.
Mel returns to Sydney from his role as TBWA Group Singapore, where he was Head of Creative and Global CD on Singapore Airlines and Regional CD on Visa. Mel’s leadership roles include ECD tenures with Lowe and Partners Worldwide and Mojo Publicis in Sydney and FCB Global in Cape Town. He successfully ran his own agency, The TakeAway, until it was acquired by DDB in 2005. He has worked across all major brand categories for clients including P&G, J&J, Unilever, Citibank, Qantas, Toyota and Pernod Ricard.
Nigel has spent the past 12 years as a copywriter, most recently with BMF Sydney, where he spent three years as Senior Copywriter. He spent four years at US (now Joy) Sydney, and five years across the Tasman at Publicis Mojo Auckland, after beginning his career at Sydney’s The Campaign Palace in 2001. He has worked with clients including Nike, Lion, Coca-Cola, Goodman Fielder and the Commonwealth Bank.
Adrian’s truly international career began in London before moving to Australia in 2001. After a long Art Director stint with DDB Sydney, he moved to Russia as Saatchi & Saatchi’s Senior Art Director, before returning to Sydney to join start-up US as Senior Creative. Adrian returned to Moscow as CD at BBDO Russia Group in 2010, where he enjoyed success for many years and also established a free advertising school for Russian creatives. Adrian has created award-wining work for brands including Google, Snickers, M&Ms, Mars, Olay, and SBS.
Source: Leo Burnett press release
When will agencies learn that promoting the fact they’ve hired five men for five senior creative roles is not a good look to PR.
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Nice to see white men FINALLY getting opportunities. Given men make up only 97% of CDs this is a bold move from Leos.
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Yes, they all happen to be men. Well spotted.
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Flight of the Conchords said it best…
Goin’ to the party
Sippin’ on Bacardi
Wanna meet a hottie
But there’s Adam, Steve and Marty
There’s Billy, Todd and Tommy
They’re on leave from the Army
The only boobs I’ll see tonight
Will be made of Origami
Tell the players
Make it understood
It ain’t no good
If there’s too much wood
Make sure you know
Before you go
The dance floor Bro-Ho ratio
5 to 1 is a brodeo
Tell Steve and Mark
It’s time to go
Wait outside all night to find
20 dudes in a Conga line
Too many dicks on the dance floor
Too many dicks on the dance floor
Too many dudes
With too many dicks
Too close to my shit
Too hard to meet chicks
I need better odds
More broads, less rods
I came to do battle
Skeedattle with the cattle prods
Too many men
Too many boys
Too many Misters
Not enough sisters
Too much time
On too many hands
Not enough ladies
Too many mans
Too many dicks
Too many dongs
Too many schlongs
Now sing this song
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#NotTheOnion.
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Shame shame… all white men… it’s 2015 Leo Burnett… GET ON IT
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Don’t Woolworths, McDonalds. Coca Cola, Kelloggs. Energy Australia, e Bay, WWF or Subaru have women as their major target market? Are these clients happy that the majority of their creative communications are done by men? The only thing that’s going to change this is when the clients refuse to work with creative departments that lack diversity.
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Perhaps they’ve just hired the best creatives available. Who happen to be men.
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@unfkable
White men can make clever, creative, compelling work for black women, and vice versa.
But, I agree, diversity is sorely lacking from multinational creative departments.
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Congratulations! These white dudes look like a blast to work with. But sausage parties are always a blast.
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“Perhaps they’ve just hired the best creatives available. Who happen to be men.”
Statistically really unlikely.
This is about conference panels but the relevance re: ‘merit’ or ‘expertise’ is obvious – http://qz.com/524694/524694/
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“Perhaps they’ve just hired the best creatives available. Who happen to be men.”
Perhaps. But given that Leos was such a male-dominated [Edited under Mumbrella’s moderation policy] when I worked there I would be surprised if it’s purely happenstance.
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Aaaaaaand the much more complex point goes ‘whoosh’ over ‘Calm Down Ladies’ head…who has ironically (or perhaps deliberately) exposed exactly where his bias lies with his patronising pseudonym. Way to not do your argument any favours.
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Looks like this could be nominated for All Male Panels.
http://allmalepanels.tumblr.com/.
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Calm Down Ladies is also assuming that anyone bothered by this and commenting must be female.
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Is it just me or is the man on the right not ‘white’? Certainly isn’t Anglo Saxon?
Colour aside, it is a shame that there are not any women in this photo and I do hope that these men were hired on their merits and not because Leo’s Sydney is a boys club?
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@ comment 7.
“Don’t Woolworths, McDonalds. Coca Cola, Kelloggs. Energy Australia, e Bay, WWF or Subaru have women as their major target market? Are these clients happy that the majority of their creative communications are done by men? The only thing that’s going to change this is when the clients refuse to work with creative departments that lack diversity.”
Are you telling me that WWF allow an ad agency who works with a company who promotes diabetes, heart disease, litter (enter further negatives here). They also work with a company who is fracking away not giving a hoot about our precious water reserves and agricultural land, to work with them?
The world has gone bonkers!?
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Five men, this is an embarrassment for today’s Australian culture. I am very disappointed to see your announcement and I wish you had considered its impacts.
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@Fact
The man on the right is Italian. His name is Vincenzo. He’s my boss.
Also, I’ve spent most of my morning being briefed and reporting to women. Go back to flogging your expensive conferences, Mumbo. Nothing to see here.
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Wow… so we can expect more ads featuring housewives dancing while spraying cans of air freshener or rubbing their face against their clean carpet?
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Pretty sure Mumbo are just publishing the press release you guys sent to them? Nowhere in that article have they had a dig at you lot.
Calm down.
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Oh thank goodness. There’s an Italian on board. The sausage party just got more traditional.
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“Is it just me or is the man on the right not ‘white’? Certainly isn’t Anglo Saxon?”
Mildly speechless.
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And of course, you all remain anonymous.
Pack of gutless wonders, the lot of you.
Fuck I hate cowards.
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@Tom.
Somebody was harping on about ‘white men’? I was pointing out their inaccuracy.
I wish all of the men photographed well and I am sure they rock at all things ‘creative’.
Gender aside they can roll their sleeves up and help Leo’s, [edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
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Real men don’t hide behind anonymity.
Real men stand up and be counted.
There are clearly very, very few men in Adland.
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I remember years ago Leo Burnettes Sydney posted a video of themselves ‘Im so exicited’ with the whole agency singing how excited they were (to win some business).
All the creatives came out of their offices in the video clip and were male.
Then all the account service ‘girls’ danced around them.
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@ Tom Donald
“Real men don’t hide behind anonymity.
Real men stand up and be counted.
There are clearly very, very few men in Adland.”
You could equally say that real men work hard to help large corporate pollute our society. ‘Real men’ is subjective and I bet that your take on ‘real men’ might well be different to other peoples.
Just check out the comment threads on Linkedin (where everyone is ‘real’. Nothing but praise, likes and no questioning whatsoever). Often anonymous comments can keep the bstards honest.
Secondly, not everyone has an ego or wants to be an industry celebrity. Pen names have been around for years.
This comedian describes a lot of real men that I come across on social networks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8zaNEOt7Q8
I do admire your transparency though. Hats off to you Mr Donald.
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So depressing to see this all-make lineup promoted so gleefully, and seemingly unaware of what it represents in 2015. Madmen anyone?
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Even the Mad Men agency had Peggy!
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Ricki and Martha have nailed it. Todd Sampson loves to present himself as so “now”, but his company’s image gives him away as so Middle Ages.
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I still can’t get over one of those white men laying over the laps of the others … which genius thought that up?
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I’m not sexist, and not racist ….. but, it does seem unusual given the talent pool out there.
I’ve just got two questions:
– how many non-caucasian persons applied for roles that were better qualified/suited than those appointed ?
– how many females applied for roles that were better qualified/suited than those appointed ?
Moving on …..
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What’s really upsetting here is the fact that Man #2 & Man #3 are wearing the same sneakers. WE NEED MORE SNEAKER DIVERSITY TOO, PEOPLE.
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I say hire the best person for the job, if the best person is a man, so be it, if the best person is a woman, then I am sure they would have been hired. We need to stop the BS political correctness and hire the most suited person for the job. ( I have 16 staff, 14 of them are female, 2 male)
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@Fact – the man on the very right may not be 100% anglo-saxon.
But the man sitting down just next to him, gazing lovingly into non-anglo-saxon man’s torso, may not be a 100% heterosexual male either.
Plus.. if you look closely, you’ll see one of the anglo-saxon men is NOT wearing casual black sneakers.. I repeat NOT wearing casual black sneakers!!
Also, another anglo-saxon man is NOT wearing blue/black denim jeans.. he sneakily threw in some very fetching tan slacks. What a great contrast.. showing off his undoubted individulaism.
There’s more diversity here the more you look.
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@The Truth
Diversity works. Companies pioneering it are flying. Check out Google; flying!
Companies in the UK now are removing names from their initial candidate application processes, so they can assess based on skills alone and it stops recruiters being biased when they see Patel or Singh as a surname. Good move!
PWC have removed the need to have a degree on their apply processes in the UK. (They know that people fck around at Uni and also know that they are smart and can be driven later in life): they have seen a great new talent pool of quality open up for them. Good move!
Diversity works and enables companies to thrive. Sydney is such a multicultural city, I am amazed that the creative team of such a creative powerhouse, in Sydney, is white. I guess it must be a matey matey culture thing right? That can only be the reason, surely?
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Political correctness is running rampant in this country. Let people hire who they want. So sick of all the left wingers. Or maybe you lot want all companies to do a hiring freeze on white men so a whole bunch of Australian families don’t have a breadwinner? Would that make you left wingers happy?
And this is coming from a woman!!!
As for the comment above about PWC removing the need for a degree – I doubt that very much. Not too sure if many people would want to hire an accountant who didn’t have an accounting degree. I’m sure they’ll be quietly reversing their “policy” – if it even exists – soon when they lose customers. Also I don’t believe your claim that people are removing last names from the hiring process in the UK – that’s rubbish – I was just there.
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http://madtown.com.au/html/s02....._top_id=56
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Hardly an ’embarrassment’ to Australian culture, it IS Australian culture.
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Too many white men? – that’s why they are in the top ten!
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Calm down, it just looks like a simple case of these men happened to be the best ones for the job. Sorry ladies, but taking a less-qualified minority simply to meet a diversity target is called positive discrimination, which is illegal.
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I just came here to read the comments 😉
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@Johnson – they aren’t less qualified. men promote men, consciously or sub-consciously. and mostly white men. it is statistically impossible that if they were promoting on merit, that it would be 100% white men.
@Jane: “That is an excellent suggestion. Perhaps one of the men here would like to make it”
http://sorayachemaly.tumblr.com/post/84061311965
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