Creative agency BMF has appointed Stephen de Wolf as its new chief creative officer.
De Wolf’s appointment follows the departure of former CCO Alex Derwin, who left in April to set up his own shop after almost nine years with the Enero agency. Derwin joined BMF in 2015 as creative director, became ECD in 2018, and CCO in 2020.
De Wolf joins from DDB Australia, where he spent the last three years as its national chief creative officer. At DDB, he was on the group‘s Global Creative Council and served as the CCO of Smith Street, the bespoke Coles agency powered by DDB.
“From early on in my career, I’ve admired everything about BMF,” said de Wolf. “They’ve been a constant creative consciousness in our industry – known for great creativity and strategy, but importantly, an amazing people culture. It’s not lost on me the shoes Alex has left to fill, but I’m looking forward to giving it a good go alongside the brilliant Steve, Christina, Tara, the two Daves, and the rest of the BMF team.”
He continued: “I’d also like to say a big thank you to DDB and the clients for a wonderful time. Working with the team at DDB has been a privilege and career highlight.”
Prior to DDB, de Wolf was the CCO and partner of BBH in London, where he also sat on the agency‘s Global Creative Board. Before moving to London in 2020, he was the CCO at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, responsible for campaigns including Transport Accident Commission’s Meet Graham, Snickers’ Hungerithm, and Airbnb’s Until We Belong.
The campaigns earned Clemenger BBDO Melbourne multiple Cannes Lions Grand Prix awards and recognition as the world’s most creative agency at D&AD and Cannes.
De Wolf has also worked alongside brands including Tesco, Barclays, Westpac, McDonald’s, Coles, Volkswagen, Audi, and Burger King. Other campaigns he led include Tesco’s 2020 No Naughty List campaign, Barclay’s Moneyverse brand relaunch, and McDonald’s Original Mouthful, which recently nabbed a Silver Lion at Cannes.
DDB has confirmed to Mediaweek that the agency will not be looking to replace de Wolf, with executive creative director Matt Chandler recently stepping up to the plate as chief creative officer.
“As much as I felt uncomfortable hiring someone who shared my first name, it became clear during the time we spent with Wolfie that he would be a perfect fit for BMF,” added BMF CEO, Stephen McArdle.
“His creative track record is eye-wateringly good, he holds the respect of the very best agency and client leaders globally and, most importantly, he is an incredibly lovely, considered human – and at BMF that’s means everything.
“Wolfie’s experience developing tech-enabled, immersive brand experiences before they were even-a-thing, was incredibly impressive. When you couple that with his effortless ability to lead big blue-chip businesses in some of the toughest categories in the country, such as retail and financial services, you have someone who’s pretty handy to have around.”
De Wolf’s appointment follows BMF’s recent win of the drinks and hospitality business Endeavour Group, which appointed BMF as its lead creative agency, working across its portfolio of brands including Dan Murphy’s and BWS.
Meanwhile, BMF is the incumbent as Tourism Tasmania earlier this month put its lead creative agency contract up for pitch, calling for agencies to submit a Request of Expression of Interest (ROEI) through the Tasmanian Government tender website – a statutory review as per government requirements.
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