VMLY&R expands leadership team with two senior hires and a promotion
WPP brand and experience agency VMLY&R has made a number of changes to its senior leadership team, welcoming new strategy director Clancy Walsh and creative director Jack Delmonte, while promoting Kath Chen to managing partner.
The changes come after the agency connected its Sydney and Melbourne offices in mid-2021 and significantly invested in its regional team, resulting in new business wins and organic growth, as well as extended partnerships with Rip Curl, Coles and Destination NSW.
Sarah Bailey, managing director, VMLY&R Sydney and Melbourne said: “Kath’s promotion alongside the appointment of Jack and Clancy is a testament to the hard work of the entire team across Sydney and Melbourne over the past twelve months. I’m thrilled for Kath and the results she has achieved during her time at VMLY&R and I’m excited to see her join forces with the likes of Jack and Clancy to create some amazing work as we round out 2022 and kick things into an even higher gear in 2023.”
Jack Delmonte brings experience from Clemenger BBDO, Host/Havas and most recently Dentsu Creative where he led accounts such as ASB, NIB, Daikin, Footlocker and TVNZ. He has received over 100 accolades across all the major awards shows.
Delmonte said: “VMLY&R truly does have all the modern capabilities to solve our clients’ challenges in the most creative and forward thinking ways. A rare unicorn ridden by some of the best talent in the land. I’m humbled and pumped to be a part of the team. Paul Nagy [VMLY&R AUNZ chief creative officer] brought me to this fine country almost eight years ago – it’s exciting to be back alongside him and Jake to push the work to be the best it can be.”
Clancy Walsh joins as strategy director from Dentsu Creative she spent three years building brand and customer experiences for brands like NIB, PepsiCo, PayPal, Footlocker and more.
Walsh said: “I’m incredibly excited to be joining such a lovely and talented group of people at VMLY&R. Coming from a background in connections planning, the agency’s focus on uniting customer and brand experience is something I believe is critical for businesses to create meaningful connections. I can’t wait to continue to build out this positioning and capabilities with the team.”
Having been with the agency for four years, most recently as client service director, Katherine Chen has lead client service in both the Melbourne and Sydney offices, and driven significant growth across client portfolios such as Rip Curl, Coles, Monash, Intel and Colgate. Her new role as managing partner will see her leading the Sydney agency alongside Sarah Bailey, who oversees both offices.
Chen said: “I’m so thrilled to step into this new role as managing partner in Sydney. I’ve had the pleasure of working very closely with the team’s in both Sydney and Melbourne over my last four years at VMLY&R. I look forward to working more closely with Sarah to scale the Sydney agency to continue to meet the needs of our client partners. It’s been inspiring to see the work we’ve managed to accomplish with our client partners over the past year, and it makes me even more excited to see where we are next year at this time, when we look back.”
Have your say