Australia – Independent agency network M&C Saatchi AUNZ has appointed new leadership to bolster the creative team of its dedicated agency for supermarket giant Woolworths in Australia, Greenhouse. Shelley Parsons, former global brand creative for Levi Strauss & Co, will be Greenhouse’s new executive creative director, while Ben O’Brien, former creative director at creative agency Banjo Advertising, has been appointed to be its new deputy executive creative director.
Greenhouse is the bespoke agency model of M&C Saatchi that produces work across all disciplines to drive results and sales for the Woolworths brand.
Parsons and O’Brien will be working closely with M&C Saatchi’s creative directors and teams dedicated to Woolworths, as well as bringing new talents into the team.
Parsons, aside from her previous role at Levi Strauss & Co in San Francisco, had also previously become executive creative director of advertising firm O’Shea & O’Brien. She also used to be the associate creative director of marketing communications agency J. Walter Thompson Worldwide and was also creative group head at media company DDB Group Australia.
Meanwhile, O’Brien brings with him more than 20 years of experience as a creative leader in the Australian market. After leadership roles at DDB Sydney and JWT Sydney, he ran his own agency, O’Shea & O’Brien, for six years before it was merged into Banjo Advertising over five years ago.
Commenting on her appointment, Parsons said, “I couldn’t be more excited to partner with Ben to help drive the ambition of the iconic Woolworths brands. The work the entire team has done over the past few years has been transformational, and the appetite to explore even further is real and ongoing.”
O’Brien also commented, “I’m absolutely stoked to partner with Shelley and the fantastic Woolworths team to help steer this truly iconic Australian brand. The whole Greenhouse is the perfect combination of talented and nice and there are some really exciting developments in the works.”
Cam Blackley, M&C Saatchi Group’s chief creative officer for AUNZ, commented that Parsons is a proven leader with a great vision, while O’Brien a natural leader and entrepreneur that completely understands the Aussie tone of voice so critical to the Woolworths brand.
Meanwhile, Nick Chapman, Woolworths Group’s creative and brand director, said, “We’re thrilled to welcome Shelley and Ben to the Woolworths team. With a powerful combination of local and global experience, and agency and brand-side success, we’re incredibly excited about the impact their combined creative leadership will have on Woolworths Group.”
