BMF has appointed The Monkeys co-founder Scott Nowell in a new creative chair role.
Nowell will lead the agency’s creative output across a client portfolio taking on an active hands-on role.
He’ll be working alongside executive creative directors David Fraser and Tom Hoskins, to shape work that delivers creativity, effectiveness and long-term impact for clients.
Nowell’s role is not that of a traditional chief creative officer. Instead, he will operate in a strata above that, while remaining closely involved in client work and creative development.
Prior to joining BMF, Nowell co-founded The Monkeys (now Droga5) in 2004. As chief creative officer, Nowell led the agency’s creative output across major brands including Telstra, Qantas, NRMA and MLA.
As creative founder, he oversaw globally recognised work such as the Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winning ‘Play It Safe’ for the Sydney Opera House and The Government of Tuvalu’s ‘First Digital Nation’.
In 2024, Nowell was inducted into the AWARD Hall of Fame, which celebrates the trailblazers who have defined a generation of advertising and left an indelible mark on the world of creativity.
Alongside his agency work, Nowell has spent the past decade leading the AWARD creative leadership course with BMF’s creative-founder Warren Brown.
BMF CEO, Stephen McArdle said: “Scotty’s work and creative leadership has been industry defining over the last two decades. This has made him as respected and revered as anyone in the world at what we do. To be able to bring him into BMF to supercharge an already super-strong creative team and portfolio of work is as exciting as it gets.
He might have ‘done it all’, but it’s clear from his creative ambition that he’s got plenty more he wants to do – and BMF is all set to be the place he does it.”
“BMF is a rare place where strong culture meets high performance, full of excellent people totally committed to the idea of creativity as a powerful business lever. I’m looking forward to helping raise an already high bar to a new level for ourselves and our clients, old and new,” said Nowell.
The appointment follows the departure of chief creative officer Stephen de Wolf in 2025.
