Ogilvy Melbourne has wooed creative Brendon Guthrie away from his literary sabbatical from adland to fill its executive creative director role.

Guthrie, who is an ex-Grey and JWT Melbourne creative, has been on a sabbatical to write.

He will report to Ogilvy Australia’s chief creative officer Steve Back in his new role.

Back highlighted hiring two new ECDs – one for Sydney and the other for Melbourne – as a key task in making two offices co-exist in a more “harmonious way” in his profile with B&T last year.

See full release announced Guthrie’s appointment below:

"Melbourne, March 3, 2014: After taking a sabbatical to write, ex-Grey, DDB and JWT Melbourne creative Brendon Guthrie has returned to advertising as ECD of Ogilvy Melbourne.

Reporting to Ogilvy Australia Chief Creative Officer Steve Back, Guthrie is responsible for overseeing all creative output from Ogilvy’s Melbourne offices.

Along with knowing his creative capabilities from having worked with him in the past, Back cited Guthrie’s temperament as a reason he sought him out to take on the leadership role.

“When I returned to Australia, I focused on bolstering Ogilvy Melbourne’s experienced creative department with some of the city’s best young copywriters, art directors and designers,” he said.

“Brendon’s infinite patience, talent as a strategic thinker and commitment to crafting ideas make him the right person to help the refreshed department realise its potential. Besides, he has a bunch of photographs taken when we worked together in the mid-1990s that I’d rather not be made public.”

Along with renewing his creative partnership with Back, Guthrie singled out Ogilvy Melbourne General Manager Michael McEwan and Director of Strategy Gavin MacMillan as reasons for his decision.

“Michael, Gav and I have been teamed successfully in the past and that strong working relationship will be valuable as we head into a period of significant growth and change for Ogilvy Melbourne. We have long-term client relationships in AAMI, Bank of Melbourne, BMW and Myer, new ones in Yarra Valley Water and Essastone and a clear strategy to grow and deepen them all.

“However, one area I’d like us to explore further is social marketing. It’s a personal passion of mine and a chance for the lateral thinkers I’ve been tasked with leading to put something back into the community.”

Since moving to Melbourne from Marketforce Perth a decade ago, Guthrie has created campaigns for the TAC, Worksafe Victoria, John West, Leggo’s, AXA and a host of others. To date, his work has been recognised at AWARD, The One Show, D&AD, Cannes, Clio, the LIAAs and the Australian Writers’ Guild AWGIE awards for screenwriting.

Ogilvy Melbourne is part of STW, Australasia’s leading marketing content and communications group."