BMF chief creative departs
Alex Derwin, chief creative officer at Enero Group’s BMF, is departing the creative agency after nearly nine years.
He started at the agency in 2015 as creative director, before moving up to an executive role in 2018, then the chief role in 2020.
Derwin
In a statement sent to Mumbrella, Derwin said: “The last nine years at BMF have been the most creatively rewarding of my career. It’s a place with a big heart, where you can balance the highest creative standards with a kindness that’s all too uncommon.
“There are heaps of people I need to thank personally, but more than anything I need to give Steve [McArdle] and Christina [Aventi] a big hug for giving me the chance to join them in leading this merry ship. I’m off for a little lie down before I launch into something new and exciting.”
Stephen McArdle, chief executive at the agency, said it’s a bittersweet moment, farewelling Derwin.
“He’s been a big factor in the success BMF’s been fortunate enough to enjoy over his nine years at the agency – seven of those as our creative leader. But he’s got an itch he needs to scratch, and we respect the bravery and belief that takes, so we’re excited for him as he embarks on that next adventure.
“Fortunately for us, a big part of Alex’s legacy is a creative department jam-packed full of extraordinary talent at every level, so I’m equally excited about what’s ahead for BMF.”
McArdle said he has begun searching for Derwin’s replacement: “To enable us to keep building on our current momentum we have started conversations with some of the best creative leaders in the business and will be in a position to announce a replacement in the next couple of months.”
Under Derwin’s creative leadership, the agency has created work for Tourism Tasmania, Batyr, Aldi, Afterpay, TAL, the Australian Government, and many more leading brands.
Just this week, Tourism Tasmania’s latest ‘Off Season’ campaign launched, led by a TVC for the very first time, marking the brand’s biggest advertising spend.
Last year, Mumbrella invited adland to vote on their favourite creative campaigns of 2023, and Aldi’s ‘Shop Aldi First’ landed at number two on the list.
Jess Wheeler, creative director at SICKDOGWOLFMAN, took part in the voting, and said of the campaign: “Too often brands try to paper over their cracks instead of lining them with gold… Great advertising is truth well told, and sometimes that means taking a perceived negative, owning it, and making it a positive.”
In the past 12 months, BMF has made some major people moves. In May 2023, it appointed Tara McKenty to a newly created dual role of chief innovation officer and executive creative director, amongst a suite of internal promotions.
More recently, the agency appointed a new joint-general manager, Eileen Cosgrove-Moloney, who works alongside existing GM, Richard Woods, and nabbed Google APAC’s former head of production, brand studio, Simone Takasaki, as its new head of creative services and integrated production.
It is rumoured that Derwin will be launching his own agency to be announced in due course.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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