Hero appoints senior creative leader Kean Szczur
Hero has hired senior creative leader Kean Szczur from Dentsu to support its continued growth and bolster its national creative team across major clients.
The announcement:
HERO has recruited senior creative leader Kean Szczur from Dentsu as part of its continued growth, following recent new business wins, including Commonwealth Super and NSW Rural Fire Service.
Szczur joins HERO’s national creative team, with a remit across multiple flagship clients. Including Toyota, ENGIE, Bakers Delight. HERO founder and creative chairman Ben Lilley said the appointment underscored the agency’s focus on attracting top talent to support its growing client base.
“Kean is a creative Swiss Army knife. Incredibly versatile with a fascinating creative background, from photographer and film editor, producer and director, to award-winning creative. His experience is already making an impact on our flagship campaigns for Toyota and WorkSafe. He also officially has the sharpest haircut at HERO,” Lilley said.
Szczur was most recently at Dentsu Creative Melbourne and previously SICKDOGWOLFMAN. His non-linear journey through the industry saw him pivot from editing in Sydney to directing producing films in Tokyo and Australia. He won the Young Spikes Silver award and was a finalist in the Cannes Young Lions film category for two consecutive years. Szczur has worked on major blue-chip accounts including Adobe, American Express, Virgin, Toyota, L’Oréal Paris, Strike Bowling, Nando’s, TAC and Peters Ice Cream. He has earned Gold, Silver and Bronze awards at Spikes Asia, AWARD and Adfest. Szczur mentored at AWARD School and represented Australia at LIA in Las Vegas.
He was one of the creative brains behind the acclaimed Second Chance Champions campaign, which brought light to the importance of organ donation in Australia. The awarded campaign led to a film which was aired on AppleTV, Paramount Plus and Network 10, resulting in a 60% uplift in organ donations during the campaign.
Speaking of his most recent move, Szczur said “joining an agency as accoladed as HERO is a privilege: good people, excellent creativity – all led by some of the industry’s brightest.” HERO executive creative director, Shane Geffen added, “Kean brings the energy, the vibes, and the daily Harry Potter quotes, and like any good wizard, he’s already conjured up some powerful ideas.”
The appointment comes during a period of significant momentum for HERO. This year the agency was Australian Agency of the Year at the 2025 WINA (World Independent Advertising) Awards, where it also became the first Australian agency to rank in the global Top 10, placing sixth overall. HERO collected a Grand Prix for its Toyota C-HR Diamond Collection (which also picked up Bronze at Spikes Asia) and its instax™ ‘Mindography’ campaign for Fujifilm earned Silver at the 2025 Spikes Asia Awards, Bronze at Adfest, and shortlists at D&AD, One Show and Cannes Lions.
Source: Hero
