Nick Garrett named CEO of newly-formed Omnicom Advertising Group Oceania
Omnicom has today announced the formation of Omnicom Oceania and after months of industry speculation has officially appointed Nick Garrett as CEO to lead the operation.
The move aligns all Omnicom’s practice areas across Australia and New Zealand including media and creative agencies, PR, performance marketing, production and more under a unified leadership structure.
In his new role, Garrett will collaborate closely with brand agency leaders to deliver integrated solutions and a more seamless experience for Omnicom’s clients and their customers.
Garrett returns to Omnicom after four years at digital creative consultancy Deloitte Digital. He joined in late 2021 as brand and creative partner, charged with embedding creativity across Deloitte’s business and client portfolio. Within his first year he joined the Global Leadership team, later becoming Global CMO.
Prior to Deloitte, Garrett spent almost a decade leading BBDO agencies, Clemenger and Colenso. During his time as CEO of Colenso BBDO New Zealand, the agency nearly tripled in size and was twice named the most creative agency in the world. In 2015, he relocated Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, where he played a key role in evolving the agency’s offering and driving significant growth. Under his leadership, Clems set new creative benchmarks – becoming the first Australian agency ever to be named ‘Creative Agency of the Year’ at both Cannes Lions and D&AD, while also topping the WARC 100 as the world’s most effective and earning the title of Global Creative Agency of the Year.
Says Garrett: “My time in the consulting world showed me just how big the opportunity is to add creative problem solving and brand thinking further upstream into business strategy, and how agencies can positively influence more of the customer eco-system beyond marketing and comms. There is a huge amount of white space to grow into, and I am absolutely thrilled to be returning to the Omnicom family to continue to drive growth at an accelerated pace.”
Says John Wren, chairman and CEO, Omnicom: “We have the advantage of best-in-class capabilities and talent across practice areas, built on the foundations of world-leading data, AI, technologies and tools. Nick’s deep knowledge of Omnicom and his advisory experience make him the ideal leader to orchestrate these capabilities and drive the growth ambitions of our clients.”
The formation of Omnicom Oceania reflects Omnicom’s commitment to flexibility, innovation, and deep specialisation, adapting to an ever-changing landscape and ensuring it delivers the best fit solution for clients. Tapping into Omnicom’s significant investment in its Omni platform, Omni AI tools and more, the group has redefined the market by building high-performance orchestration models including +61 for Telstra and Smith Street for Coles.
Says Wren: “Increasingly, clients in this market are looking for deep specialism and seamless integration. Recent Forrester wave reports have proven that Omnicom is the unrivalled leader across key marketing specialisations. We have successfully deployed these specialisations with many leading clients in the market, and this organisational shift accelerates our ability to deliver this model to more clients across the region.”
OAG was established in August last year to bring together Omnicom’s creative agencies under one umbrella – including DDB, BBDO and TBWA – with former TBWA global boss and Aussie expat Troy Ruhanen taking the reins as global CEO in January.
Garrett’s appointment comes amid a broader wave of leadership and structural shifts across the region, including the merger of Clemenger BBDO with CHEP Network and Traffik, and the elevation of CHEP CEO Lee Leggett to lead the newly unified Clemenger Group. He will reunite with former creative collaborator Stephen de Wolf, who was recently appointed national chief creative officer of the group. Garrett reports directly to Omnicom global chairman and CEO John Wren, with the new structure effective immediately.