DDB Sydney Snares M&C Saatchi’s Nick Russo As New Managing Partner
DDB has announced it has snared M&C Saatchi’s Nick Russo as managing partner on its Volkswagen commercial vehicles account.
Russo was at M&C Saatchi for 10 years and formerly group head leading the Lexus business. He has a range of other high-level experience across telcos, FMCG and retail.
“The opportunity to work at DDB Sydney on Volkswagen was a no brainer. An iconic agency, and an iconic brand,” Russo said.
“I’m looking forward to helping drive Volkswagen to great sales results, and cutting through in really competitive markets with some stand out creative.”
“I jumped at the chance to work with the DDB Sydney crew, particularly with Ben (Welsh, DDB CCO) again because we share a passion for great work, and work that works,” he said.
DDB Sydney has a long history with Volkswagen, first winning the Volkswagen Passenger Vehicles business in Australia in 2001, and then the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (CV) and Skoda accounts in 2015.
Volkswagen CV’s most famous campaign via DDB Sydney was the 2016 ‘The Naked Ute’ Amarok campaign, which picked up a bunch of awards including a Silver Cannes Lion. This was followed up by the ‘Mad Max-inspired’ Korama work for the Amarok V6.
“I was a big fan of ‘The Naked Ute’ and its success, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do with the Amarok in the future. Commercial Vehicles is such an exciting segment. There are so many established utes to take on, we want to continue to shake things up and prove that what people call a ‘posh ute’ is actually a very serious player,” Russo said.
DDB Australia CEO Andrew Little said: “We’re really pleased to welcome Nick to the DDB Sydney family. He’s a brilliant fit for our culture and where our business is heading.”
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