Evan Roberts leaves Clemenger BBDO to become TBWA’s chief creative officer
After six years with the agency, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne’s executive creative director Evan Roberts has become chief creative officer at TBWA Sydney.
He replaces Andy Dilallo, who has held the position for three years. It’s unclear what Dilallo’s next move will be, but he said, “I have nothing but love for TBWA, it truly is a world class organisation.”
“It has been a privilege to help steer the business over the past few years. I don’t leave behind colleagues, but instead life-long friends,” Dilallo added.
As Dilallo’s successor, Roberts take charge of the creative output across the group’s agencies, including Eleven, Fleishman Hillard, Fabric, Integer and Bolt. TBWA CEO Paul Bradbury said he brings “something very special” to the business.
Roberts joins from Clemenger BBDO
“I would first of all like to say thanks to Andy Dilallo for his strong creative leadership over the last three years,” Bradbury said.
“Andy is an exceptional creative thinker and has helped us to create a very strong agency with an excellent roster of clients and some strong creative work in the pipe. Andy leaves us as a great mate and we wish him all the very best.
“Evan is going to bring something very special to TBWA Sydney. Evan’s creative pedigree is world class, he builds incredibly strong partnerships with clients, agency partners and within the agency, and has a clear point of view on how creativity can be applied across connected customer experiences to deliver an unfair share of future growth for brands.”
In 2017, Evans was co-leader of the team that won a Cannes Lion for Agency of the Year, and was also named D&AD Agency of the Year. He won 56 Lions that year, including two Grand Prix for campaigns including the Transport Accident Commission’s ‘Meet Graham’ – the most awarded creative campaign in the world in 2017 – Snickers’ ‘Hungerithm’, and Airbnb’s ‘Until We All Belong’.
Roberts also oversaw the development of ‘Deadly Questions’, a campaign for the Victorian Government encouraging Australians to submit questions to First Nations people. Out of home creative for the campaign was pulled from APN Outdoor assets, then under the control of current Seven chief executive James Warburton – after concerns it might breach Ad Standards’ rules.
During Roberts’ tenure, Clemenger BBDO also created Myer’s ‘Naughty or Nice Bauble’ campaign, which was crowned Mumbrella’s Ad of the Year in 2018, and took out the Award for Innovation at the 2019 Mumbrella Awards.
Before joining Clemenger BBDO, Roberts spent six years at GPY&R Melbourne, climbing the ranks to become creative director. He said he’s been “really impressed by the culture of TBWA” and is looking forward to getting stuck into work for a client roster that includes Amazon, Optus, Apple, CUB, Allianz, Pepsi Co, Tourism New Zealand, Mastercard, and Taronga Zoo.
“It’s a collective in every sense of the word, with a multitude of offerings and a very clear view on how it needs to work to achieve success for its clients,” he said.
“I must say the idea of working for a company with the sole focus of Disruption is highly appealing. I can’t wait to get started.”
In March, Clemenger BBDO’s chief creative officer Stephen de Wolf departed to take up the same role at BBH in London.
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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