Ogilvy has announced the promotion of Ant Simmons to the role of Executive Creative Director (ECD) for its Melbourne office.
Bringing over 20 years of industry experience, Simmons first joined Ogilvy in October 2023 as Group Creative Director. Since then, he has played a pivotal role in leading award-winning campaigns for renowned brands such as AAMI and GIO, while also overseeing the Mondelez portfolio of FMCG brands.
During his tenure, Simmons worked closely with outgoing ECD Hilary Badger to further enhance Ogilvy’s creative capabilities and mentor emerging talent. Badger has since taken on a new role as Executive Creative Director at Leo Australia in Melbourne.
Commenting on the promotion, Gavin MacMillan, Managing Director of Ogilvy Melbourne, said:
“Since joining Ogilvy, Ant’s strong creative nous combined with a laser focus on craft has seen him take an ever-growing role across the agency’s creative output. He’s been a champion of developing world-class work particularly within the FMCG sector and brings great perspective and observations on the world around us, and how it affects consumer behaviour. His natural ability to mentor and lead is a great fit for Ogilvy, and we’re excited that he has chosen to take this next step with our team.”
“We are also incredibly grateful to Hilary for her role in fostering creative talent and leadership, and we’ve loved having her as part of our award-winning team. But we also recognise her desire to take the next step in her career and wish her well. Her ability to build great talent around her has enabled us to have full confidence in Ant’s ability to shift into this broader leadership role.”
MacMillan also expressed appreciation for Badger’s contributions:
“We are also incredibly grateful to Hilary for her role in fostering creative talent and leadership, and we’ve loved having her as part of our award-winning team,” MacMillan said. But we also recognise her desire to take the next step in her career and wish her well. Her ability to build great talent around her has enabled us to have full confidence in Ant’s ability to shift into this broader leadership role.”
Reflecting on his new role, Simmons shared his enthusiasm:
“It’s been a highly productive period at Ogilvy, a strong reflection of the talent in the agency and the ambition to create effective work across all client teams.
“With arguably some of Australia’s most trusted brands as clients, we are in a privileged position to apply creativity to solve their commercial ambitions. I couldn’t be more excited about working with Gavin, Danielle and the Melbourne team, who are all the best in the business. And of course, continuing to work with Toby Talbot who not only inspires the best creativity but also seems to have an endless supply of ‘ugly-cry’ inducing funny stories.”
He also acknowledged the influence of Toby Talbot, Ogilvy Network ANZ’s Chief Creative Officer:
“Ogilvy has long been recognised as an agency with creativity and effectiveness in its DNA. We believe in return on creativity – ROC – and having someone of the calibre of Hilary Badger take that belief and supercharge it across iconic Aussie brands has been a privilege for me.”
“I wish Hil only the best. She will always be a friend to me and to the broader Ogilvy family. But now is a new chapter. With Ant’s global view and local knowledge teamed with Max McKeon, our new Sydney ECD, this is the time for borderless creativity to really come into its own for Ogilvy Australia,”
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