Hugh Gurney and Joe Sibley will assume executive creative director roles to lead creativity at Droga5 Melbourne, part of Accenture Song (formerly The Monkeys Melbourne).
Gurney and Sibley’s promotions follow the departures of The Monkeys Melbourne’s CEO Paul McMillan, chief creative officer Ant Keogh, and chief strategy officer Michael Derepas in October.
Together, Gurney and Sibley have helped create some of Australia’s best known and awarded work including ‘Weather Anything ’ for Macpac, ’Enter Asahi’ for Asahi Super Dry, ’The Greatest’ for Aussie Beef, ’You’re Good’ for ahm,’ England Bitter’ for VB and ‘Hello Christmas’ for Telstra.
As part of the continued move towards a more national approach, Gurney and Sibley will report into Tara Ford as CCO Droga5 Australia and will work closely with Milla McPhee, CSO Droga5 Australia and Matt Michael, CEO Droga5 ANZ.
“Hugh and Joe are tremendous creatives and wonderful leaders of talent, who we’re sure will continue to help create world class work from Droga5 in Melbourne,” said Ford.
“Hugh and Joe were our first team in Melbourne and as long-term members of our creative team, we’ve had the chance to see them grow, so it’s a pleasure to have them take roles as executive creative directors in Melbourne as we transition into the future as Droga5,” said Matt Michael, CEO Droga5 ANZ.
“Droga5 make some of the best work in the world, so we jumped at the opportunity,” said Gurney and Sibley in perfect unison—according to Droga5.
Over the last seven years as part of the team in Melbourne their work has been awarded at Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Spikes, Clio, New York Festivals, AWARD and MADC.
The Monkeys became Droga5 at the start of this month, with the aim of delivering outsized impact through outsized ambition and provocative thinking.
