Droga5 ANZ has appointed M+C Saatchi’s Emma Robbins as its executive creative director in Melbourne.
Robbins had been M+C Saatchi’s national chief creative officer since November last year.
In her new role, Robbins will work closely with Michael McEwan, who leads Droga5 ANZ in Melbourne, and ANZ co-chief creative officers Damon Stapleton and Barbara Humphries, helping to drive creative excellence across Droga5 ANZ and the wider global network.
Droga5 said her appointment strengthens Accenture Song’s end-to-end marketing offering across the ANZ region, led by Droga5 ANZ CEO Matt Michael, bringing together the agency’s creative capabilities with expertise in media, customer experience, data and technology.
“Melbourne is an incredibly important market for us – creatively, culturally and commercially,” said Humphries.
“Emma is exactly the kind of leader we want helping shape what comes next: someone with exceptional creative standards, strong leadership instincts and a deep belief in the power of creativity to drive impact.”
“At Droga5, creativity sits right at the intersection of tech, data, and experience, like the centre point where all the different forces that make great work actually converge. It’s that passion for culturally sharp, relevant and super effective work that I’m excited to help build with the team,” added Robbins.
“What makes Droga5 different is our borderless approach to creativity. We bring the best people to our clients’ problems, regardless of where they sit, connecting talent across markets in service of our clients’ businesses. Emma’s appointment strengthens that model and reinforces our commitment to building something special in Melbourne,” said Stapleton.
Robbins departure from M+C will see ECD Jeremy Hogg lead its creative output.
“After eight remarkable years, Emma leaves an incredible legacy at M+C Saatchi AUNZ. We’ll miss her wit, style, and most of all her compassion. We’re hugely grateful for everything Emma has given and wish her nothing but continued success in what comes next,” said Dani Bassil, M+C Saatchi’s Australia and New Zealand CEO.
“Jeremy Hogg, our ECD, will lead our creative team and will work with myself and the leadership team on continuing to build our creative vision for the future. We are in excellent hands,” Bassil added.
Robbins has a strong track record having had work awarded at Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show and Effie Awards, as well as judging shows nationally and internationally. She also won the Creative award at B&T’s Women In Media 2024. She also mentors through The Aunties Program and lectures at AWARD School.
The news comes at a tricky time for M+C. The Australian business was called out in M+C’s global 2025 financial reporting due to “prolonged tough macro challenges, client caution and reduced spend with consumer-facing clients, client losses”.
Those client losses included Optus, which moved to Droga5 and Accenture Song Media in June last year—a story you read first in B&T.
M+C also closed its Bohemia offline media buying agency last year and offshored its digital media buying to M+C Saatchi Performance business, which is headquartered in Singapore.
Bohemia’s clients at that time included the Australian Retirement Trust, Schneider Electric, Ryman Healthcare and Fever-Tree.
CommBank, another longstanding M+C Saatchi client, is currently in the midst of a creative review. B&T understands that Howatson+Company, Droga5, Special and M+C Saatchi are in the hunt for that account. However, we similarly understand that M+C is in the mix for one of the larger creative accounts currently in market.
