Full service agency Apparent has appointed Hamish Stewart in the newly created role of chief creative and experience officer to elevate and grow the agency’s integrated offering.
Stewart is the agency’s latest senior appointment, following the earlier additions of Simon Pugh as chief media officer in June and Jason Hill as chief strategy officer in December.
He previously served as the national executive creative director of experience at CHEP Network. He has also held senior positions at R/GA Sydney, M&C Saatchi, and GHO.
Throughout his career, Stewart has led creative initiatives for many of Australia’s top brands, including Optus, CommBank, Google, and NRMA Insurance. His extensive experience spans the full range of marketing creativity, encompassing brand development, customer experience, digital strategies, sponsorship, design thinking, and innovation.
With a passion for driving innovation that makes an impact, Stewart has also been a mentor for two startup accelerators – Remarkable, for early-stage startups using technology to positively impact life for people with disability, and EnergyLab, ANZ’s largest climate tech accelerator.
At Apparent, he will oversee the agency’s entire creative output, working alongside its more than 150 strong team and portfolio of clients across Australia and around the world.
“We’re excited to further bolster our leadership with the addition of Hamish into the new chief creative and experience officer position,” Suzy Smiley, managing director at Apparent, said. “His extensive, award-winning experience with major brands at some of Australia’s top agencies makes him the ideal leader to help us deliver on our ambitious agency strategy and continued global growth.”
Stewart added: “Apparent is dedicated to solving clients’ complex business challenges by integrating creativity, media, data, and technology. I’m delighted to be joining the agency and collaborating with its talented team to continue delivering exceptional results for our clients and accelerating the agency’s overall creative offering.”
Stewart is the latest senior appointment at Apparent, one of the largest full service independent agencies in Australia. In May Simon Pugh joined as chief media officer in another newly created role.