FEDERATION appoints ex FCB New Zealand CCO Tony Clewett to Chief Creative Officer role

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FEDERATION appoints ex FCB New Zealand CCO Tony Clewett to Chief Creative Officer role

Tony Clewett, one of New Zealand’s foremost creative advertising leaders, has joined FEDERATION as the independent Auckland agency’s chief creative officer. Most recently, Clewett was CCO at FCB NZ, where he was instrumental in winning a coveted double first of both the Grand Axis and Grand Effie Award for 2019.

 

With over 20 years experience partnering with some of the most well-known brands in NZ and the UK, Clewett, who departed the CCO role at FCB back in May, has amassed over 100 internationally recognised awards for creativity and effectiveness. He counts numerous Cannes Lions, D&AD Yellow Pencils and a Grand Effie (Mercury Energy’s ‘Energy Made Wonderful’) amongst his illustrious career achievements.

Says Clewett: “Having spent most of my career at network agencies, I’m excited about the move into the independent world and working nimbly, smartly and one-on-one with clients. There’s an incredible energy and momentum at Federation, and I’m thrilled to lead an even greater focus on effectiveness through creativity.

“Over the past few months I’ve really enjoyed working closely with the talented leadership team of Olly, Elizabeth and Sharon – they’re not only smart, they’re full of passion and drive too. Federation is one of NZ’s largest independent Agencies and is certainly going places, so I’m thrilled to jump on board and hold on for the ride”.

Clewett, a proud New Zealander, is the brains behind some of this country’s most-loved and internationally awarded advertising campaigns in recent memory, such as ‘Driving Dogs’ for BMW Mini and the world-famous Yellow Pages’ ‘Yellow Treehouse’. For the past two years running, his work has owned the coveted title of New Zealand’s ‘favourite Christmas TV ad’; 2018’s ‘Secret Santa’ for Farmers Department Store and 2019’s ‘Keeping Ho-ho hush-hush’ for NZ Post.

Sharon Henderson, CEO of Federation, highlighted the significance of the appointment saying, “We searched far and wide for a creative leader who gets the power of integration and prizes that all-important combination of creativity and effectiveness. Tony is not only one of life’s truly good human beings, he’s a very rare creative talent and I’ve been jealously following his ideas for years.

“We’ve quietly been talking with Tony for several months now so we’re just thrilled he’s chosen to join us for this exciting new era for Federation. Bringing him on board as Chief Creative Officer in 2020 tops off a transformative year for our agency. He will also bolster the agency’s leadership team alongside Managing Partners Olly Boden and Elizabeth Beatty.”

Other notable highlights of Clewett’s work include his renowned social behaviour change work, such as Health Promotion Agency’s ‘Say Yeah Nah’ platform to tackle NZ’s youth binge drinking culture and demonstrating the life-saving importance of an escape plan with Fire and Emergency NZ’s immersive ‘Escape My House’ experience.