DDB Group Australia national CCO Stephen de Wolf set to depart after nearly three years

CB can reveal that DDB Group Australia national chief creative officer Stephen de Wolf is set to depart the agency after nearly three years in the role.

de Wolf took over the reigns in October 2021 following the departure of national CCO Ben Welsh. During his nearly three year stint DDB has consistently been ranked in the Top 10 in the CB Hot List, placed #5 in 2022, #9 in 2023 and #10 in 2024.

Prior to DDB, de Wolf held the role of chief creative officer at BBH London. de Wolf joined BBH London after six years at Clemenger BBDO with the appointment marking the first time in BBH’s history that the agency hired from outside for the top creative role.

His work has been highly lauded around the world for both creativity and effectiveness. In 2018, he was ranked the number one Creative Director in the world by the Cannes Lions Global Creative Index. In 2017 with Clemenger BBDO, de Wolf took home 56 Cannes Lions, including two Grand Prix, for his campaigns on a range of clients including TAC, Mars and Airbnb. His ‘Meet Graham’ road safety campaign for the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) was the most awarded creative campaign in the world that year, and also picked up a prestigious D&AD Black Pencil.

Prior to Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, de Wolf spent three years as Creative Director at 18 Feet & Rising in London, the start up now known as And Rising. He joined a year after the agency was founded, and worked on clients including Nationwide, Virgin Media and Akzo Nobel.

Previously to that he was creative group head at JWT Sydney followed by four years at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand.

De Wolf started his career in Perth, first as an art director at JMG Marketing followed by a two year stint at Marketforce before being lured to Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for a year. He returned to Perth in 2005 to the art director and general manager role at Campaign Brief, where he stayed for nearly two years.