Thinkerbell has announced a host of leadership appointments across its Melbourne (The South), Sydney (The North) and New Zealand (Aotearoa) offices. In Melbourne, Nick Bennett has been promoted general manager, and Tom Wenborn to chief creative Tinker. Paul Swann has been promoted to chief creative Tinker in Sydney.
Wenborn and Swann have led the creative delivery in their respective offices for many years. Their promotions will see the pair wholly responsible for continuing to build and grow Thinkerbell’s creative output.
Bennett will continue working alongside managing director Jaime Morgan to build and grow the agency team.
“Nick and Jaime have been amazing at leading the agency in ‘The South’ and with Nick’s appointment as GM he now has the ability to have a wider influence on his team and the people around him with his calm and considered leadership style,” commented group CEO, Margie Reid.
Group chief creative, Jim Ingram, added: “Holding the reins on Thinkerbell’s creative output is no mean feat, our agency model allows us to have such a wide breadth of ideas and we’re obviously prolific in what we deliver, so I’m constantly amazed with how much care and craft Paul and Tom bring to everything they do. I can’t wait to see what they’ll do as chiefs.”
The creative agency has also appointed Jacqueline Archer as national head of integrated production. Archer moves from her role as managing director at integrated MarCom agency Bastion, where she led its in-house production studio, Bastion Make.
“Jackie brings with her a wealth of experience, across a wide range of production experience, from agencies, to networks and everything in between,” said Ingram.
“She’s also got a brilliant ability to truly integrate production into the agency, helping us bring our ideas and our production much closer together.”
Finally, Laura Stevenson has been named executive head Thinker, returning to Australia after five years in the UK to lead Thinker’s Lion account. In Australia, Lion manages a portfolio of beverage brands including Guinness, XXXX, and Hahn Brewery.
Laura Stevenson, Jacqueline Archer, Paul Swann & Phillippa Netolicky
“We searched high and low to find someone like Laura, and she’s having an immediate impact on steering the Lion team across the agency,” Reid continued.
“With Laura’s focus on Lion across both offices in Australia, she’s ensuring our Measured Magic is consistent across all brands and the whole Lion business.”
The latest appointments follow a string of creative work from the agency. Last month, Thinkerbell worked with Starcom to launch a new brand platform for Felix mobile starring a tree puppet called Felix. June also saw the Toohey’s How do you feel? jingle performed by real people for the first time, featuring a cast of teams from across the state, including the Blues, ahead of Ampol State of Origin Game One.
In May, Thinkerbell launched a new era for beverage retailer Dan Murphy’s, evolving its current brand platform, Nobody Beats Dan Murphy’s.
Top Image: Nick Bennett, Jaime Morgan & Tom Wenborn