Damian Royce, the former ECD at Havas Melbourne, has been appointed to the newly created position of chief creative officer at 303 MullenLowe Perth.
In a career spanning 25 years, Royce has also held creative leadership positions at TBWA, Cummins&Partners, and Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, where he was a creative director and company leadership board director.
He will relocate to Perth from his native Melbourne to take up the new role. Tasked with overseeing all creative output, he will also focus on generating new opportunities, building key skills and applying brilliant creativity to solving business issues.
Royce said: “Joining a creative company with an all-new leadership team ready to help brands grow is a rare opportunity, and it’s exactly what I was looking for.
"Along with René, Attivo CEO Cam Murchison, a new chief strategy officer, and an evolved agency team, we will leverage the many ways creativity can be used to move businesses forward. It’s an exciting time to join 303 MullenLowe, who have been building momentum in an ever-changing market. I’m looking forward to this collaboration and above all, helping brands get noticed.”
René Migliore, MD of 303 MullenLowe Perth, said: “This is an important hire, one that adds a brilliant new dimension to our amazing creative and design team.
"Damian is an exceptional talent, one of Australia’s most respected CDs, a brand builder, proven team leader, a digital pioneer in creative circles and one of the nicest people you’ll meet. He also brings strong business nous to help solve a range of business problems with creative solutions.
In other moves, 303 MullenLowe ECD Richard Berney and head of planning John Linton have left the agency to start their own business.
The agency has also made promotions as part of recent business planning, naming Taryn Payne as head of business management, Johnathan Julius as head of production and Smiljka Dimitrijevic as the new head of planning.
Migliore said: “We’ve been lucky enough to have Rich Berney with us for 18 years, and John for eight years. They have been fundamental to this business, giving their heart and soul.
"They’ve built their respective areas within 303 MullenLowe and we’ve seen them grow and flourish, but it’s an exciting time for them to back themselves and build something of their own. It’s also the perfect time for the business and our evolution. They’ll remain good friends to the agency and we genuinely wish them every success.”
“Taryn, Smiljka and JJ are all brilliant leaders within the agency and highly respected in their fields. Their passion and energy is infectious. They’ll own, design and build out the evolution of their respective areas of the business, significantly boosting depth of capability,” Migliore continued.
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