Ogilvy Australia continues to grow and strengthen its Melbourne office with seven new faces joining the agency’s creative ranks.
Award-winning copywriter Oli Brock joins alongside art director partner Eli Swart. Their collective experience includes working at Clemenger BBDO, Cummins&Partners, VMLY&R and most recently, Leo Burnett, where the pair reunited after working together at Isobar seven years ago.
Their brand experience includes Australian Defence Force, CUB, Kraft Heinz, Jeep, Mars, NAB, Specsavers and 7-Eleven. Oli’s work on Monash University’s “A Future Without Change” campaign during his time at VMLY&R was recently recognised with a Gold Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Creative duo Isabel Gomes Brand and Omar Fawahl join from BWM Dentsu, where they’ve spent the last three years working together for brands including Kmart, L’Oreal and Toyota.
They both had short stints in film production before following their passion for advertising, working at agencies including Cummins&Partners, M&C Saatchi and Wunderman NYC.
John Barrett and Liam Ratliff join from M&C Saatchi. Both RMIT graduates, Liam and John excelled in AWARD School in 2019 and 2020, respectively, and gained valuable work experience at Tennis Australia and BBE Creative. John was one of only fifty Pencil winners worldwide to be invited to the D&AD New Blood Academy in London in 2018.
Finally, art director Katelyn Testa joins the team to partner with Ogilvy’s copywriter Ted Brearley. Katelyn’s journey started at Leo Burnett in Melbourne seven years ago and was followed by stints at VMLY&R, Publicis and Ikon. She has produced award-winning work for Breaka Flavoured Milk, Queensland Government, SPC Ardmona and the Tatts Group.
David Ponce de Leon, ECD of Ogilvy Australia, Melbourne, says: “I’m tremendously excited to welcome such a big bunch of talented creatives to Ogilvy. Our creative department keeps growing and evolving, with the right talent, skill sets and drive. This remains paramount to us, our culture and of course, our clients. I’m certain this group can bring a global perspective and fresh thinking to all of our work, while managing to have heaps of fun in the process.”
“Ogilvy’s goal is to continue to assemble the most impressive and diverse creative talent pool and to make this our biggest point of difference,” says Gavin MacMillan, managing director, Ogilvy Australia, Melbourne. “These creative additions reflect our ambition and are the first of a range of new appointments across our office including strategy and account service. Watch this space.”
“I would’ve have preferred a talent group shot in our reception, alas, we are amid another Melbourne lockdown. This might be a cruel reminder to update their LinkedIn profile pics, but at least is not another Microsoft Teams mosaic screenshot,” adds Ponce de León.