Andy Cairns has joined M&C Saatchi Melbourne as managing director following the departure of David Dahan earlier this year.
Cairns returns to Australia following several years in London, working at TBWA, BBH and most recently as global brands director of Havas.
His appointment follows other big moves for the agency, including the hire of Adam&EveDDB's Russell Hopson as group managing director and BMF's lead creative Cam Blackley.
Hopson says: “I've watched Andy's career with admiration for many years. He has a proven track record of galvanising agencies into doing great work for clients. And he does it with a sense of fun and decency that's contagious. I couldn't be happier that he's joining the M&C Saatchi family.”
Cairns adds: “'The momentum behind M&C Saatchi at the moment is massive. Hires like Cam and Russell are game changers. The opportunity to return to my home town and drive that agenda here makes this the dream job for me.”
As Toyota prepares to relocate to Melbourne, M&C Saatchi is bolstering its team in the Victorian state as its client Lexus will also make the move.
M&C Saatchi has been on the hunt for a managing director since Drahan exited the business several months ago. Drahan returned to Ogilvy as worldwide MD of global brand management for its Singapore office. He was previously director of operations at Ogilvy on the Unilever account before joining M&C Saatchi in 2015.
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