Former Clemenger BBDO CD Rebecca Carrasco lured to head of Facebook Creative Shop ANZ gig

Former Clemenger BBDO, Sydney creative director Rebecca Carrasco has been appointed head of Facebook Creative Shop Australia and New Zealand.

Carrasco told Campaign Brief she was excited to be joining Facebook's Creative Shop team of 120 ad specialists spread over 34 global locations: "I'm looking forward to partnering with clients and agencies to help brands be more creative on Facebook and increase the overall impact of ad campaigns:

"Coming from an ad agency creative background I feel I can talk the language of marketers and creatives to get them excited about the creative possibilities we can achieve together."

Carrasco recently spent a week at Facebook HQ in California getting to know the company's systems before a quick visit to NZ and then back to Australia alongside FB Creative Shop's Kiwi expat worldwide chief creative officer Mark D'Arcy, who is based in the US.

After being the star of YoungGuns in 2003, Carrasco started her career at Colenso BBDO New Zealand, employed by then ECD Mike O'Sullivan after taking out YoungGun of the Year in 2003. Later she followed O'Sullivan to Saatchi's NZ. In 2005 she transferred to Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, hired by then ECD David Nobay. In 2006 she left to set up a PhD on the power of ideas in public communication, and later that year decided to join Lowe Hunt, Sydney, where she met creative director Dejan Rasic. In May 2007 she joined him and Lowe Hunt CEO Ben Colman to form CRC.

Carrasco split with Colman Rasic Carrasco early in 2010, joining Publicis Mojo, Auckland as creative director in June 2010. However, when her role was unexpectedly expanded to ECD when the U.S. candidate for that job changed his mind, Carrasco decided to return to Australia to start a family. After a year she took a creative director role at Clemenger BBDO, Sydney in August 2011.

Carrasco's international awards tally includes a United Nations Award and the Asia Pacific Child Rights Award for her MTV Exit Foundation campaign, which featured anti-trafficking music videos for bands such as Radiohead and The Killers. Her work has been recognized with gold medals at Cannes, One Show Entertainment, One Show, Clio, New York Festivals and AWARD. She has also been awarded at The Andys, D&AD, and the London Internationals. Locally, her MTV (Welcome Snoop) work achieved Campaign of the Year at the B&T Awards and AWARD, as well as the AWARD Client of the Year. In 2008, CRC was named AdNews' Emerging Agency of the Year.