Publicis Communications' flagship creative and
digital agency Marcel opens its doors in Sydney this week, bringing an
evolution to the Publicis Sydney operations and a highly experienced
management team that adds Scott Huebscher as executive creative
director.
Marcel Sydney's clients include Tiger Beer, OPSM,
Nestle, Tourism NT, Merial, Virgin Active, Kinder and AMEX. The new
agency becomes the creative engine of Publicis Sydney operations and
will work alongside other Publicis businesses including incubator and
accelerator offering Drugstore and a soon-to-be launched design and
technology business.
The new Marcel Sydney management team consists of David Nobay as
founder, CEO Gavin Levinsohn, Scott Huebscher, digital leader Kim
Hopwood, head of content Holly Alexander, director of client services
Ryan Bernal and chief strategy officer Iona Macgregor, who was
previously managing director and head of strategy at Marcel's flagship
office in Paris. In 2015 Marcel Paris was the most awarded French agency
at the Cannes Lions and has just been placed third in the global
ranking called Contagious Pioneers of 2016, by respected international
publisher Contagious. The ranking recognises standards of excellence and
innovation in marketing.
Marcel Sydney has 50 staff and is the
fifth agency in an international network that also comprises offices in
Paris, New York, Shanghai and São Paulo with each agency geared to
share the same culture and work as one team across the globe through
shared resources. Marcel attributes its name to Marcel
Bleustein-Blanchet, the original founder of Publicis.
Says Andrew Baxter, CEO, Publicis Australia: "The launch
of Marcel presents us with the opportunity to accelerate the evolution
of our Sydney business and offers clients an entrepreneurial team with
exceptional talent. With digital in the foundations of its capabilities the new Marcel is
built with the next 10 years in mind."
Marcel's arrival in
Australia was signalled in December with the arrival of Nobay, who
has a 28-year career that has seen him win over 40 Cannes Lions and put
him in the executive creative director's seat in London, New York, Hong
Kong, Melbourne and Sydney. He led Saatchi & Saatchi to be crowned
"Australian Agency of the Decade" before he helped launch Droga5 Sydney
nine years ago.
Huebscher joins Marcel as ECD from Leo
Burnett. While at Burnett, he helped take the agency to the #1 creative
ranking in Australia and also #1 creative network in Australia and Asia
Pacific in 2014, winning multiple awards for the "Men Like Us Like Rum"
campaign for Bundaberg Rum and the "Shine" campaign for Canon. During
his time at Leo Burnett, the agency was named AdNews Agency of the Year,
B&T Agency of the Year and Spikes Network of the Year. He
previously served as creative director at DDB Sydney, Saatchi and
Saatchi New Zealand as well as Saatchi and Saatchi in the US.
Other
senior management leaders CEO Levinsohn, Macgregor, Alexander, Bernal
and Hopwood continue their client and agency leadership roles.
Says Charles
Georges-Picot, Marcel's global CEO: "Marcel is not like any other
agency; it's a culture that we are slowly spreading around the world
with key individuals working as one team globally. Our culture is born
out of digital, more open and more collaborative. We are thrilled to
spread the Marcel culture in Sydney after Paris, New York, Mexico,
Shanghai and Sao Paulo."