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Former Wunderman creative Matt Batten returns to Australia in ECD role for Edge

Senior industry creative Matt Batten is returning to Australia to take up the role of executive creative director at content agency Edge.

Matt Batten

Batten has spent three and half years in London, firstly heading up the creative department for Wunderman UK and more latterly as a consultant for digital marketing and tech firm Valtech.

He relocated to the UK in December 2012 after a four-year stint as national executive creative director at Wunderman Australia.

Batten famously wrote in a column for Mumbrella in 2014 – amid the height of the Cannes Lion scam controversy – that anyone who did not want to enter real work should “fuck off and be an artist”.

Speaking about his new role, which he starts on August 8, Batten said: “I am excited to join Edge. They genuinely understand the value of great creative work and the opportunities offered by multi-channel thinking – opportunities for brands and for the work.

“It’s great to partner with a management team who don’t merely pay lip service to creativity – it means we can devote our energies to getting the best work out the door and none of us will hold each other back.

“I hope to bring to Edge my broad creative experience across channels and disciplines – from CRM to film, print to tech – to push the agency’s work and capabilities further. My last three and a half years working in the UK has also provided new perspectives, different approaches, and global and regional thinking that can be leveraged in the Australian market.”

Edge managing partner and strategy director, Richard Parker, said: “Content marketing has transcended its humble origins where companies experimented with poorly funded blogs run by some guy in the basement. Over the past few years, content thinking has crossed silos and disciplines, and now operates at every stage in the customer lifecycle, from broad brand awareness through to customer comms and advocacy.

“Content marketing in 2016 is front and centre to a successful brand strategy, and requires the creative firepower to match. Matt brings the talent, experience and drive to elevate Edge’s creative output and deliver content that builds brands, changes customer behaviour, and delivers results for our clients.”

At Wunderman, Batten won a host of awards and helped the agency become a finalist for UK Customer Engagement Agency of the Year. He was foreman of 2015 D&AD jury and has been a Cannes Lions juror. Prior to working for Wunderman, Batten worked for BMF and Saatchi & Saatchi with Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Shell among his clients.

In his new role Batten will work across Edge’s Sydney and Melbourne offices on accounts including Volkswagen, AAMI, Suncorp, Petbarn, Lendlease, Australia Post, Australian Unity, Australian Super, Nulon and Aussie Home Loans.

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