After two years in the role, Campaign Brief can
reveal that Grant Rutherford, Publicis Mojo Australia's national chief creative
officer, is leaving the agency today.
Rutherford could not be
contacted but a senior source at the agency confirmed that staff were
being informed right now of his departure.
Just who will replace Rutherford, who joined in August 2013,
is yet to be revealed but the source said an announcement could be made
in the near future. In the interim it is believed the state executive
creative directors will be taking on his duties.
Rutherford's 20+ year career has seen him work
across many creative Australian agencies including Y&R, George
Patterson Y&R and Clemenger BBDO. More recently from 2008-2012,
Grant was executive creative director of DDB Group Melbourne but left in July of 2012 to pursue other personal endeavors.
Rutherford's personal work has been acknowledged with over 150
international and national awards, including seven Cannes Lions, Gold's
at One Show, New York Festivals, Clio, London Internationals, Mobius,
AdFest, Spikes, AWARD and Silver nominations at the prestigious D&AD
awards. His work as ECD has a similar record.
His work includes
Carlton Draught's 'Made from Beer' campaign including 'Big Ad', which
has been one of the most awarded campaigns in Australian advertising
history. He has also been included in the top 10 art directors in the
world in the Gunn Report.
Closer to home, Rutherford has been
acknowledged with the prestigious 'Creative Leader of the Year' title at
the Melbourne Advertising and Design Club for creative contribution to
the industry. Grant's work has been included in the permanent collection
at the MoMA in New York and the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
Rutherford
has served on a number of marketing peak bodies: The Communications
Council, the Australasian Writers and Art Directors Club (AWARD) and the
Melbourne Advertising and Design Club (MADC). In 2010 he co-founded the
Snowdome Foundation in memory of his daughter who died of Leukaemia.