CHE Proximity Lures Wes Hawes From Marcel Sydney For ECD Role
CHE Proximity has reinforced its creative
leadership, welcoming Wes Hawes (right) as ECD in Sydney, Helen James
(left) as ECD - Retail, and promoting Glen Dickson (seated, left) to ECD
in Melbourne.
All three ECDs will report into chief creative
officer, Ant White (seated, centre), and will start immediately. CHE
Proximity is split across two locations, Sydney and Melbourne, and the
new leadership structure will work together with the team to lead the
agency and its clients to new creative strengths.
"In Wes, Glen and Helen we have found
experienced creative leaders with a track record of producing exactly
this kind of work. We're excited to see what they can achieve with the
full force of the agency behind them."
Hawes joins CHEP from Marcel, taking on ECD duties in the Sydney office. Hawes was promoted to ECD at Marcel last year,
where he worked on campaigns like Tiger Beer's Cannes-Lion-winning
'Air-Ink' and 'Rare Stripes', and Tinder's 'Represent Love'. Before
that, Hawes was joint-ECD at TBWA\Sydney, and BBH London, where he spent
most of his career working on brands such as Lynx/Axe, Barclaycard and
the Guardian.
Helen James will lead the agency's growing retail
division, bringing with her over 20 years of advertising experience in
both the UK and Australia. Since October 2016, she has been leading the
creative retail teams as ECD - retail at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne,
including Myer and QIC GRE shopping centres. She was featured in Campaign Brief 's Spotlight on Women Creatives series in May 2018, voted one of
Australia's most notable industry talents in AdNews's '40 under 40', and
in 2017 was a finalist in B&T's Women in Media Award. Her client
work has spanned the gamut of retail, including ALDI, OPSM, Optus,
Disney, Hyundai, Rebel, IKEA and more.
Rounding out the trio,
Glen Dickson has also been promoted from group creative director to
executive creative director. Joining CHEP in 2017, Dickson has been
running the Melbourne creative team for the past 18 months. He has
worked hard to strengthen the agency's creative capabilities and bring
to life its ethos of Connected Creativity. Highlights during his time so
far include overseeing work on RACV, AGL, Latitude, Australian Gas
Networks and Carsales.
As an agency, CHE Proximity knows today's
brands must live in culture and in the world of the consumer; allowing
audiences to not only consume them, but also to take part in owning,
creating and amplifying them. The role of publishers, personalities,
owned, bought and earned media are now inseparable from each other and
the ideas they serve.
To create this kind of work, the classic
disciplines of marketing - advertising, experience, PR, CRM, media,
digital - all have to come together. This is what CHE Proximity calls
Connected Creativity. And this is what the agency believes is now the
remit of its modern creative leaders.
Says CEO, Chris Howatson:
"Our clients trust us with their brands and to achieve their targets, so
this is the perfect time to welcome Wes, Helen and Glen. Glen has
demonstrated excellent leadership at CHEP over the last 18 months, and
despite only recently joining, Helen and Wes already feel like they are
part of our family sharing our values and ambition for the work. With
Ant, the year ahead is very exciting."
