Shane Geffen is Giving Clients Creative “That Might Scare Them” at HERO
HERO “never goes the safe route out the gates” now it’s confident in its identity, according to the agency’s national executive creative director Shane Geffen.
When he started at HERO in 2021, the agency tried to be everything, he told LBB. “We tried to be a media company, a tech company, a digital company but during that process we realised that we are a creative agency. We do creative ideas really well,” he said.
HERO isn’t a traditional or legacy agency, he said, but an independent with global affiliations with McCann.
“They [clients] will get something different with HERO, something that might scare them and something that solves their creative problems.”
In his new position as national ECD, Shane has started to shape the Sydney and Melbourne offices into one creative machine.
“I was kinda thrust into this position,” he said, “For a long time, Sydney and Melbourne were almost separate entities under HERO with their own teams and incredible leadership. In Melbourne we had gotten to the point that we wanted to be in an ambition point of view, especially within the last two years. I’m excited to emulate that in the Sydney office.
“There is so much more and there is even more to come.”
Shane said his creative leadership style is focused on understanding when to let go and allow others to take charge. HERO’s best work has challenged the category and used tech in cutting-edge ways.
“We injected some grunt into the release of the first-ever GR Corolla, with a 2-minute on-track ode titled Metalmorphosis, through groundbreaking live action animation. We showed male gamers what it was like to play through a woman's eyes by changing their voice using tech for Maybelline New York,” he said of some of the office’s best work.
“With Lucielle Vardy and Ken Chan leading the charge as planning heads in Melbourne and Sydney, we are 100% aligned on shared ambitions and the type of work we want to create. We’ve built a really cool dynamic that ensures strategy and creativity are seamlessly aligned. We maintain this by sharing memes and not taking life too seriously.”
HERO’s global affiliation with McCann, after Ben Lilley bought the local business from IPG in 2020, means the agency remains independent when producing work for Australian clients, and works with McCann on globally serviced clients that need a local operation, such as Mastercard.
“There's a global client director and creative director that work solely on clients like Mastercard and we get to tap into them,” he said.
“We’re often giving each other advice, even away from global work. If I’m having problems or am unsure how to deal with something, they are on standby. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Shane is looking forward to producing work for Mastercard that uses AI creatively this year.
“The level of creativity that AI applies is mind-blowing. I think, in 2025, AI will be integrated into more campaigns, not merely as an executional tool, but as part of the solution.”
