Ant Keogh departs Clemenger BBDO Melbourne after a decade at the top
One of Australia’s most celebrated creatives, Ant Keogh, chief creative officer of Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, is leaving the agency.
Keogh said in a statement he will be taking time to pursue some personal creative projects until he thinks about his next steps.
Keogh’s departure comes just a week after the agency was named global agency of the year at Cannes and Australasian agency of the year in the Mumbrella Awards.
Keogh: Moving on after ten years at the top
Keogh had one of the most successful creative collaborations in Australian advertising history, working alongside Clems creative chairman James McGrath.
“I’m leaving the agency at a time when we’ve just produced some of our best work and had wonderful success at Cannes. On one hand, it’s a crazy time to leave but if you think about leaving on a high, it makes sense.
“Clemenger Melbourne and the BBDO network in general is a great place, full of clever people who I was very fortunate to work with and whom I learnt a lot from. I’ll miss many of them and, although I’m excited by what’s ahead, I’m also sad to be leaving, especially since I’ve enjoyed long creative relationships with James McGrath in particular (17 years or so), many of the other CDs, Planners and staff in general,” Keogh said.
James McGrath, creative chairman at Clemenger BBDO, said: “After 18 years of working together, eight years at GPYR and ten at Clemenger BBDO, Ant with a mind full of new projects and reflecting-on his next creative decade, has decided to leave us, to best pursue the next chapter with openness and independence.
“He leaves on the world-beating high of Agency of the Year at Cannes, a testament to his creative leadership and extraordinary ability.
“I cannot express enough the absolute privilege of working with Ant, he has made my working life an extraordinary joy and obviously marked it with brilliant productivity of the highest quality.
“No doubt our collective paths will crisscross as he works in his various capacities as a creator extraordinaire,” he said.
Nick Garrett, CEO at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, said: “Ant is a rare legend and I count myself lucky to have worked with him in our short window together. What he’s done and achieved for this agency in the past decade is nothing short of miraculous and I speak for everyone here when I say we’ll miss him deeply, but that’s matched by our love and respect for him and we wish him the greatest success in everything he does because he deserves it.”
Keogh worked on award winning campaigns including the highly acclaimed ‘Meet Graham’ for the Victorian Transport Accident Commission which asked drivers to ‘Meet Graham’, a man who isn’t built for car accidents.
Snickers ‘Hungerithm‘, which was a digital campaign offering customers a discount on Snickers bars based on their anger levels.
Bonds ‘The Boys’ which featured a pair of talking testicles in an approach to sell mens underwear.
Magic Salad Plate was another award winning campaign Keogh worked on for Four’N Twenty Pies.
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Is it him. Or is it Clems. But not one mention by anyone of the clients…the true patrons of his and Clem’s career. Isn’t all about them?
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Him and Clems. A top flight talent before he joined, and a superb addition to the Clems team, culture and legacy. Those clients are there because of such.
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Just like it’s all about your shareholders. But let’s not be like that, please just celebrate this chap’s farewell for what it is – the end of a killer innings.
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I think you are about to find out. Let’s see how Clems goes over the next ten years without Ant. Talk about getting out at the right time. Literally on top of the world in his craft. Well done young man.
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