Innocean Australia appoints Brendan Willenberg to executive creative director role

Innocean Australia has hired Brendan Willenberg as its new executive creative director, filling the role left vacant by Wes Hawes, who recently joined 72andSunny Sydney as CCO, as revealed by Campaign Brief.

Willenberg joins Innocean after 10 months at Cummins & Partners where he was freelance ECD. Prior to that, he served as ECD and creative partner at Archibald Williams (now rebranded as AW) for nearly two years.

Prior to joining AW, Willenberg spent over a decade at Clemenger BBDO. During his tenure, Clemenger was named AWARD Agency of the Year in 2019, and Willenberg himself was ranked among the top five ECDs in APAC by The One Show. He was also a founding member of Clemenger Group’s boutique agency TKT Sydney, which garnered numerous accolades, including AdNews Small Agency of the Year. Prior to Clemenger BBDO, Willenberg spent five years as senior writer at McCann Sydney.

As one of the most awarded creatives in Australia, Willenberg lays claim to over 100 awards including a Grand Prix and multiple golds at local and international creative shows and Effies.

Willenberg is a keen mentor of junior talent and an advocate for diversity in the creative industry. He ran AWARD School for two years, has mentored some of the brightest young creatives both in the Australian market and overseas and served on the board of AWARD for three years.

Client experience includes Tourism Australia, Tourism Tasmania, Mars, Unilever, Pernod Ricard, Mastercard, Campbell Arnotts, Foxtel and more. Plus 10 years of award-winning work for V Energy, as well as pro-bono work for Code Like A Girl and Dry July.