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Banjo secures Bruce Matchett as new executive creative director

Banjo has lured Bruce Matchett back to Australia

Banjo has lured Bruce Matchett back to Australia

Bruce Matchett, the former creative head of SapientNitro in Singapore, has returned to Australia as a partner and executive creative director at Banjo as part of the agency’s next stage of expansion.

The former JWT, Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi powerhouse has been working with the Sydney agency that is part-owned by John Singleton since the beginning of the year.

Despite keeping a low profile, Matchett has been pivotal to a number of recent wins for the agency.

Agency founders Andrew Varasdi and Ben Lyttle convinced Matchett to make the move back to Australia late last year.

Varasdi said the chance to lure the world-class creative director back to Australia could not be passed up and even in a short time he has had a positive influence on the agency.

“Twelve months ago we sat down as an agency to work out how we are going to future-proof ourselves from a creative point of view,” Varasdi told Mumbrella.

“We wanted to understand what is the right structure. What we have got in Bruce is a world-class creative coming out of a leading agency in Sapient Singapore.

“He understands the Australian market and is very forward-thinking in terms of the digital platform.”

Matchett’s arrival has seen the agency start to build a digital team.

The move marks a return to Australia for Matchett, who enjoyed a successful stint at Ogilvy between 2007 and 2010 before moving to Singapore to join Saatchi & Saatchi. There, he teamed up with Andy Greenaway, with whom he renewed his partnership at Sapient Nitro in June 2014.

In an email, Matchett told Mumbrella Asia: “I’m having a wonderful time in this new partnership at Banjo working alongside this talented duo, the past few months have been tremendous we’ve already had a flying start by winning four pitches in the past few weeks.”

“We are building a very unique, creatively collaborative unit here at Banjo and we are having an awful lot of fun,” he said.

In an emotional piece titled ‘Being the oldest man in the room’ written at the end of last year about his career to date, Matchett shared his thoughts about his long career what drives him and keeps him going in an industry dominated by youthful talent.

Throughout his 40-year career, Matchett has also worked at JWT India as chief creative officer.

In the past two weeks has picked up work for Ausgrid and Destination NSW.

The agency has also added the Real Pet Food Company, real estate brand, Follow Me, the Australian Turf Club and Clubs NSW.

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