Clemenger BBDO appoints Jim Curtis as CCO across both Melbourne and Sydney offices
Clemenger BBDO has elevated its Melbourne ECD, Jim Curtis to the role of national chief creative officer across both agencies, signaling potential integration across the two offices.
The move comes shortly after Ryan Fitzgerald departed the Melbourne agency last week to join Special. Curtis and Fitzgerald joined Clemenger in 2020 as joint ECDs from Droga5.
Jim Curtis, new national CCO at Clemenger BBDO
The national role will see Curtis “tasked with applying Clemenger BBDO’s world-renowned creative thinking to create new opportunities and solve business-critical challenges for organisations around the country”, according to the agency, bringing together “the brightest creative minds to drive client growth, without barriers or borders”.
Asked if this move is signaling further integration across the two agencies, which both operate with separate CEOs, the agency responded that there were no further plans at this stage. Brent Kerby was appointed as CEO of Clemenger BBDO Sydney earlier this year, following the departure of Pete Bosilkovski in late 2021.
Curtis will continue to be based in Melbourne.
Clemenger Group CEO Les Timar said: “Jim is passionate about reimagining the value brands bring to their consumers’ lives, creating innovative and inspiring environments for his teams, and working with good people who love making great work.”
Clemenger Group CEO, Les Timar
“His appointment reinforces Clemenger BBDO’s mantra that creativity is always the answer and its ambition to always be at the heart of the country’s most iconic and heralded pieces of work.”
“The elevation of Jim into this national role is also critical to the continual evolution of the Clemenger BBDO model and taking creativity to places it has never been before with the agency.”
A Clemenger spokesperson told Mumbrella that Curtis’ oversight is an opportunity to help understand the creative model across both agencies, which already share clients and other resources.
Until 2019, Nick Garrett was CEO of Clemenger Melbourne and Sydney. Upon his departure, Gayle While became CEO of Clemenger Melbourne, with Bosilkovski taking over in Sydney.
Joining the Melbourne outfit in 2015, Garrett then added the struggling Sydney operation to his remit in 2017, with executive chairman of the Clemenger Group Robert Morgan saying at the time that Garrett was both loved by clients and a magnet for talent.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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