CHE Proximity has lured creative Leon Wilson back to Australia as the agency pushes on with its five-year turn around plan.
Wilson (pictured right) joins CHE as executive creative director from BBDO Chicago. He has time at award winning agencies, Mother, Fallon, Mojo and Colenso BBDO under his belt.
Chris Howatson, CHE Proximity’s managing director, said in a release that the appointment is the “culmination of a 12-month period of reinvention and growth” which has seen 64 new staff appointments.
CHE is also shortlisted in this year’s B&T Awards in three different categories including Victorian Agency of the Year and Emerging Agency of the Year.
“Appointing Leon is the next step in our agency’s ambitious five-year plan – he is a phenomenal talent, leader and an inspiring person. He‘s an evangelist for the modern role of creativity in solving business problems,” Howatson said.
“Our ambition is to pioneer the next generation of commercial creativity. There’s untapped opportunity at the intersection of data, technology, customer experience and content, that when unlocked allows us to create branded relationships with customers that solve genuine needs, rather than rely on broad persuasion alone.
“In our model, creativity is not the sole responsibility of the creative department, but the entire agency. How we interrogate the data, engineer the interactive framework or understand customer behaviour are all as creatively important as the chemistry of the idea.”
Wilson said he was happy to be back “in a market where people call a spade a spade”, adding that its exciting to work with an agency that “is aware that efficacy is born from creating rewarding relationships between people and brands, rather than simply relying on reach and frequency”.
For more on Howatson’s plans for the agency see B&T profile ‘This is Howie do it’ here.
