Ben Coulson named Chief Creative Officer of Y&R Australia/New Zealand

SYDNEY — Tony Granger, Global Chief Creative Officer of Y&R announced that Ben Coulson has been promoted to Chief Creative Officer of Y&R Australia/New Zealand, a new position.

Ben has been serving as Executive Creative Director of GPY&R Melbourne for 4 years and has just been named in the top 5 creative directors in the world in the 2012 Cannes Report. Under his creative leadership, the agency has become one of the region and world’s most respected agencies. Just this past year, GPY&R Melbourne was the most-awarded Australian Agency at Cannes. GPY&R Melbourne’s Mobile Medic campaign, done in collaboration with VML Kansas City on behalf of the Australian Defence Force, was awarded four Gold Lions, one Silver and a Bronze in the Titanium/Integrated category.

GPY&R Melbourne was also the most-awarded agency at Spikes Asia this year, and dominated the global W3 Awards in New York, which recognize digital creative excellence. Most recently, the agency took home 5 awards from the London International Awards.
“Ben is a remarkable creative leader. He’s passionate, he’s smart and relentlessly focused on creating work that is exciting, innovative and inspirational,” said Tony Granger. “This gives our clients more creative firepower across the region,” he added.

“One of his strengths as a leader comes from his belief in the power of collaboration. Mobile Medic was done with VML Kansas City and it was a perfect seamless melding of creativity and innovation — everyone uplifted each other to create something very special and effective,” he said.

“When we appointed Ben as the Melbourne ECD we knew he was a tremendous creative talent. It has been wonderful to see him grow into becoming an outstanding creative leader. The successes he has had with the Melbourne agency are well documented and I am sure he will now relish the chance to really have an impact thoughout the region,” said Russel Howcroft, CEO, Y&R Australia/New Zealand.

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