Queensland creative agency, Khemistry appoints its first ECD
Behavioural change creative agency, Khemistry has appointed Brent Liebenberg as its first executive creative director.
Liebenberg is a veteran of the industry and joins the Queensland agency from AJF in Melbourne, also part of the GrowthOps group.
Khemistry co-founder and practice lead, Andy Fyffe said that it is not every day that a new ECD arrives in the Queensland market, especially one of Liebenberg’s calibre.
Liebenberg and Fyffe
“This is a red-letter day for the agency and the realisation of a long-held ambition. Brent’s appointment as our inaugural ECD strengthens our capability to service top-tier brands in the Queensland market and helps lay a platform for national expansion.”
He has worked in the industry for 25 years, across the Australian, South African and Middle Eastern markets, most recently at AJF, working with clients including Catch, Dare, Holden, Officeworks and Lion Dairy.
“We’ve been pursuing Brent for some time now, but it’s been worth the wait. He’s not just a world class creative, but for us, he exemplifies the new generation ECD. An incredibly thoughtful, inclusive leader who unlocks big ideas and draws out people’s best work without the huffing and puffing.”
On his appointment, Liebenberg said that the most important thing is that the team he is joining is made up of “really decent humans”. He also said that he is excited to be a part of the agency’s work in social marketing and behavioural change, stretching into a new territory.
“I believe Khemistry’s psychology-first, design thinking-led approach is just as effective for solving hard business problems as it is for addressing social ones.”
His hire comes off the back of a number of business wins for Khemistry in 2021, including projects for QLD Fire & Emergency Services, Brisbane City Council, and Health & Wellbeing Queensland.
Fyffe finally expanded on some of the leadership changes that come as a result of this hire.
“Our longstanding creative director, Lindsay Thompson remains a critical leader in the business. He will be a key partner for Brent moving forward, as will Diane Grice, who was recently elevated to head of client service and Roz Ruwhiu, our newly appointed head of content.”
GrowthOps has announced in 2019 that Andy Fyffe would be returning to run Khemistry, relinquishing his CMO title he took up a year prior at the parent company. Two months later, GrowthOps posted a $65 million loss.
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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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