Independent advertising agency Core has made four hires, including a new creative team, following a number of new business wins.

Core has added copywriter Anthony Ortuso and art director Jari Kennedy after its recent appointment by Sydney Airport, insurance giant QBE and cosmetic brand Ella Baché.

Creative team Ortuso and Kennedy are both graduates of Award School and before joining Core worked at VCCP and Circul8, among other agencies. The duo picked up a number of accolades, including a recent Webby nomination, for an Amnesty International Tinder campaign.

It reminded Australian women that not all women in the world are as empowered as they are. The team has worked on brands including Comparethemarket.com.au, Appliances Online, ING and Toga Hotels.

Joining them is account executive Lucy Almond who comes from UK agency Bray Leino. She will be working on the QBE and Sydney Airport accounts. The final addition is project manager Kristy Albers, who will help manage the agency’s workflow, creative resources and material delivery.

Christian Finucane, creative partner at Core said: “We’re growing as an agency and we need talented people to help us manage that as well as delivering results for our clients. Anthony and Jari are up-and-coming creative stars who demonstrated in our recent Sydney Airport pitch they can deliver attention-grabbing campaigns. Lucy and Kristy will bolster our account management team and ensure everything continues to run smoothly as we scale up. It’s exciting times at Core and we welcome them.”

Picture from left to right: Anthony Ortuso, Jari Kennedy, Lucy Almond and Kristy Albers.