Paul Meates returns to Australia as CHEP ECD
CHEP Network has appointed Droga5’s Paul Meates as executive creative director for its Sydney office.
Meates returns to Sydney after a decade at Droga5 New York, where he was group creative director, leading a number of award-winning campaigns for Meta, Ancestry, Prudential, Chase, Biofreeze, Facebook, CNBC, Allstate and Coca-Cola.
In the new role Meates will head up the Sydney offices creative output, as well as joining CHEP’s national creative leadership team.
His appointment comes just ahead of newly appointed CHEP Network CEO, Lee Leggett’s, official start date in April. Leggett was last month named as Justin Hind’s successor, after it was announced he would be departing the Clemenger Group agency to launch a new full service agency with wife Dominique Hind. Hind has first appointed as CEO in December 2020, after Chris Howatson departed the role to launch Howatson+White (now Howatson+Company).
CHEP Network chief creative officer, Gavin McLeod, said: “We have huge creative aspirations at CHEP to do ‘different-shaped’ work that defies media norms. To do this we need a creative leader who values and nurtures relationships with our clients and across the wide breadth of CHEP’s capabilities who help bring these ideas to life.
“Paul is by nature inclusive and collaborative, but also has a laser-like focus on what makes an idea great. I’m stoked to see another world-class creative talent return to Australia and incredibly proud that he has chosen CHEP as his new home.”
Before moving to New York in 2013, Meates held creative roles at George Patterson Y&R (now VLMY&R) Clemenger BBDO and Ogilvy and Mather.
Meates, added: “CHEP is uniquely positioned to not only do the very best of what agencies are typically set up to do, but also the kind of work no other agency can. It’s a place with so much capability – anything is possible.
“…and I missed Cheezels. So it was time to come home. You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.”
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