The Hallway appoints Hugh Nairn as national managing director
Former Big Red partner and chief executive, Hugh Nairn, has re-entered the agency landscape, joining The Hallway as national managing director.
Nairn left Big Red in 2016, and has since served in a variety of roles, including executive producer at creative content company Positive Ape, chief executive of Trethowan Group – which he refers to as a “Nairn family company” – and director of Cavalry, a brand strategy and media planning business.
In his new role, Nairn will be based in the agency’s Melbourne office and be responsible for continuing the momentum achieved through account wins such as Foxtel’s new streaming service, Binge.
“The Hallway exists to grow our clients’ businesses and right now this is more critical than ever before,” commented Jules Hall, The Hallway’s chief executive.
“This focus attracts a particular type of advertising professional – those with an overdeveloped commitment to building their clients’ brands and businesses through great creativity. Hugh is totally aligned to that way of thinking. He has a strong sense of responsibility for his clients, and as we navigate the recovery phase of the COVID19 pandemic that instinct is vital.”
Hall has been a vocal proponent of the benefits of working from home. Back in May, he wrote for Mumbrella about how the agency won’t be forcing employees to return to the office, even once Melbourne’s lockdown lifts.
Both the Sydney and Melbourne offices will continue to be available for team members. However, 97% of staff said they enjoyed working remotely in an internal survey, and 77% didn’t want to return to normal office working.
Nairn, who was also managing director of BWM Melbourne from 2003 to 2008, said it’s this approach to culture that drew him back to the agency scene he thought he’d already left behind.
“I’ve had a wonderful career in advertising and in all honesty I thought I’d probably concluded the agency stage of my career. Then I met Jules and Simon Lee (ECD and partner) at The Hallway,” he explained.
“They’re building a world-class data-driven creative powerhouse, which is very relevant to the challenges that clients are facing today. They’ve already made a lot of impact in the market and I’m looking forward to helping them drive that further across the Melbourne and Sydney offices.”
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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