Wieden+Kennedy Sydney Hires First Four Creatives to Lead Macca's Work

Wieden+Kennedy has appointed the first crop of creatives to service the McDonald's account at its new Sydney outpost.

Roy Leibowitz and Chris Wilson have both been hired as group creative directors, while Jack Elliott and Lochie Newham join as senior creatives.

Roy and Chris were previously co-founders and creative directors at Big City Business, a creative studio they established at the start of 2024 after stints at agencies including Clemenger, BMF, and Innocean. They've worked with brands such as Carlton Dry, ALDI, TAB, Kia, and Hyundai.

Jack and Lochie are an Australian creative duo, but move to Wieden+Kennedy from Anomaly London, where they spent almost two years as senior creatives. Before that, they were at Wunderman Thompson in Melbourne for close to eight years.

The agency said the four creatives "are a core part of this team we're building in Australia."

“From the start, it’s been important to us that we build this team with creative talent from the Wieden network, along with talented folks from Australia," said Eric Helin, W+K's global executive director who leads the McDonald's account globally.

"This crew immediately understood our fan to fan approach and the importance of having McDonald’s show up in culture, versus just making ads. Roy, Chris, Jack and Lochie all have an incredibly high level of craft, are great people, and we couldn’t be more excited to have them here.”

The agency enters the Australian market after winning a chunk of the McDonald's business from DDB Sydney, which will still continue its 53-year relationship with the brand, albeit with a reduced remit. The closed pitch, revealed by LBB, featured agencies already on the brand's global roster, including Droga5 and a model similar to that of +61 for Telstra, comprising TBWA and Bear Meets Eagle on Fire.

In an exclusive interview on setting up in Australia, Wieden+Kennedy told LBB it will "find the unique fan truths that make McDonald’s special in that market."

"The team in Australia have set a very specific goal to make work that brings these fan insights to life and find their ways into culture," the agency said.

When asked whether W+K will begin competing in other local pitches, the agency said its "priority first and foremost is McDonald's".

"We have deep love for this brand and success to us is getting this started off right in Australia with work that makes McDonald’s proud. More generally, our approach to expansion will always be built around growing relationships with current clients first, vs growing to get bigger for ourselves."

Wieden+Kennedy also works with McDonald's in the US and Canada. Last year, it won the Happy Meal business in the US, adding to its remit and ending McDonald's US' relationship with DDB. In Australia, its remit will start with Chicken and McCafe.