TBWA\Sydney Hires CSO Michael Hogg and MD Elektra O’Malley

TBWA\Sydney has appointed former Emotive strategist Michael Hogg as chief strategy officer, and Anomaly New York’s Elektra O’Malley as managing director, LBB can reveal.

Their creative partner, and the agency’s new chief creative officer, will be appointed in the coming weeks, after LBB revealed on Friday that Evan Roberts is departing to set up his own agency.

“The appointments of Elektra, Michael and our soon-to-be-announced chief creative officer mark the start of a very exciting new chapter for TBWA Sydney,” Paul Bradbury, CEO and President of TBWA\Australia and New Zealand, said. 

“We have incredible clients, capabilities across the total brand experience and the full force of TBWA and OAG to accelerate our innovation and creativity.”

Michael was previously CSO at indie Emotive, which yesterday announced Sebastian Revell as his replacement, while Elektra returns home to Australia for the role after over a decade in New York. She was most recently head of account management at Anomaly, and before that was group account director at Johannes Leonardo. 

The position is also a return to the TBWA Group for Elektra; she previously spent almost five years at TBWA\Chiat\Day in New York. In the US, she has worked with clients including Bud Light, Amazon Ads, and Ferrero Group. 

“This opportunity is truly a homecoming for me, both professionally and personally,” she said. 

“My time at TBWA New York was a fundamental building block in my career and shaped my belief in creativity and Disruption as a transformative force for growing brands and businesses. I’m so excited to return home to TBWA Sydney and work with its incredible people and brands to disrupt the future of creativity.”

Michael replaces Matt Springate, who moved to London late last year and took a job at Havas. At TBWA, his role will stretch across the Group, which includes TBWA, Eleven, Fleishman Hillard, Fabric, Telstra’s +61 agency, and TBWA/Media Arts Lab for Apple.

The CSO previously spent five years at Emotive, working with brands such as Optus, Google, Unilever, and Breville. Before that, he was head of strategy at The Monkeys, now Droga5, where he led strategic planning on NRMA Insurance, Qantas, IKEA, and Meat and Livestock Australia, resulting in a Grand Prix Effie and being recognised as Effective Agency of the Year. Michael also spent five years at Fallon London.

“Having spent a career in independent creative agencies, I never imagined taking a network job,” he admitted.

“But it feels like a unique moment in time at TBWA. The agency has incredible momentum, a renewed creative ambition, and Paul's brought together a group of people in Elektra and our new CCO who made it impossible to say no to. Plus I get a car park." 

The agency has been on a new business streak, attracting clients like Department of Defence, Kraft Heinz, and Goodman Fielder last year, coinciding with a highly-praised body of work for Telstra as part of the +61 outfit with Bear Meets Eagle on Fire.

OAG is yet to confirm its plans for the Australian and New Zealand markets, while BBDO’s global CEO Nancy Reyes exclusively told LBB this week about her decision to merge Omnicom stablemates Clemenger, CHEP, and Traffik.