Publicis Groupe ANZ has announced the appointment of Dave Bowman to the new position of chief creative officer, charged with driving innovation and creativity that will inspire at scale. Bowman was most recently Google’s APAC head of creative and will start his new role at Publicis on May 29.
On the appointment, Publicis Groupe’s chief creative officer for APAC & MEA, Natalie Lam, said: “I’m thrilled to be working with Dave to elevate the creative product across the Groupe in ANZ. He is a unique, modern creative leader with integrated experience from both the agency and media worlds; as well as having a true understanding of what brand building means in the digital age. I know he’ll bring a fresh approach to creativity in ANZ, as well as actively building an inclusive creative culture that’s connected across our agency brands.”
Publicis Groupe Australia and New Zealand CEO, Michael Rebelo, added: “There are very few people in our industry who have the breadth and level of marketing transformation experience that Dave has – having founded an agency, worked in various markets, and most recently spearheading the creative product of one of the world’s largest digital media platforms.
“This is the exact skillset we have been looking for to continue to take the 20 plus media, creative, tech and digital agencies across our Groupe to the next level.
“Connectivity and creativity – in its many forms – is a key competitive advantage for our clients at Publicis. Dave won’t just be partnering with our creative leaders, but also our media agency teams, digital and CX agencies and client leads to sprinkle the magic far and wide among our talent no matter what discipline and brand they come from. He will be pivotal in creatively bringing together our end-to-end capabilities, fusing compelling storytelling with data, technology and media as we continue to enhance our creative impact across our key connected clients.”
Bowman has been recognised at the highest levels in creative industry award shows and has worked for over 20 years in creatively-led companies in different parts of the world. In his five and a half years at Google, Bowman was the APAC Head of Creative, and also led the company’s Partner Innovation team, which comprises creatives, software engineers, producers and business partners who help to make Google technology accessible, useful and exciting for the 4.8 billion users across the region.
Bowman said: “I am looking forward to partnering with Mike and the team to make a real impact across the Groupe in Australia and New Zealand. I’ve loved my time at Google and have learnt a lot. But, at the same time, I’ve also found myself itching to get back into an environment with creativity at its core; where there’s an opportunity to bring ideas, data, media, technology and storytelling together in ways the world hasn’t seen before. I can’t wait to get started.”
