The Royals Appoints Award-Winning Strategist Graham Sweet as Head of Strategy

Independent agency The Royals has appointed Graham Sweet to the role of head of strategy Sydney.

Graham was most recently head of brand planning at Clemenger BBDO and brings with him close to two decades’ experience in building some of the world’s best brands. He has previously worked at Saatchi & Saatchi, We Are Social and DDB Australia.

At The Royals, he is replacing Tom Donald, who has moved client side as creative strategy lead at Lion.

Before arriving in Australia in 2014, Graham led the strategic function at one of South Africa’s premier branding consultancies, The Brand Union. He has worked on everything from beer to banking, across equally diverse geographies from London to Lagos. 

The ‘Team of Millions’ campaign for Absa’s sponsorship of the Spingboks in 2011, on which Graham led the strategic development, went on to win multiple D&AD and Cannes Lion awards.

Since arriving in Australia he’s helped Volkswagen find its way back into the hearts of Australians, scooping up a long-term effectiveness Effie in the process; worked with the Commonwealth Bank to strengthen the relevancy of its CAN promise; and set the vision and business direction for the restage of Ampol back into the Australian market.

The Royals managing partner Dan Beaumont said: “Graham has an unwavering passion for inventive strategy, thoroughly enjoys leveraging creativity to grow clients’ business and has never been seen in the same pair of sneakers, so he’s going to surprise us strategically and sartorially. GS is one of the finest strategic minds in the business. His expertise and experience will be an incredible asset to our people and clients alike.”

Graham added: “The Royals’ mission to create unnatural change to propel brands and culture forward is an attractive proposition for anyone passionate about achieving positive change. I’m thrilled to be joining such a talented and ambitious bunch and to get to work with a diverse group of clients, from beer to pet food, payment methods and world-class mattresses – what’s not to love?”

The Royals’ most recent client wins include Deliveroo, Koinly, Ivory Coat and DON Smallgoods.