VCCP Sydney recruits former Clemenger BBDO MD Andrew Holt to fill chief executive officer role

VCCP Sydney has hired Andrew Holt as CEO to work alongside ECD Gary Dawson and managing partner David Kennedy-Cosgrove to help spearhead its growth in the Australian market. 

Founded in 2012, VCCP Sydney has grown over the past few years and now has a client portfolio which includes ING Direct, Fitness First, Compare the Market, Purplebricks, TAFE Western Sydney and hipages.

This move marks the next phase for VCCP Sydney and demonstrates its commitment to creating a challenger agency for challenger brands in the Australian market place.

Holt comes with over 15 years of experience, most recently spending 7 years with the Clemenger Group, first with Colenso BBDO in Auckland and then as managing director of Clemenger BBDO in Wellington and then moving to Clemenger BBDO Sydney in 2014.

In Wellington he was instrumental in leading a creative renaissance, with the agency winning Gold at Cannes, Spikes and the NZ Effies, creating New Zealand’s most popular ad in ‘Ghost Chips’ and being ranked in the Top 20 agencies in the world in the Gunn Report. Prior to this Holt worked in the UK. He has helped deliver world-class work for brands such as Foxtel, Toyota, Vodafone, Budwieser, Aussie Home Loans, Barclaycard and the New Zealand Transport Agency.

For Holt becoming part of VCCP Sydney represents a new and exciting challenge.

Says Holt: “I’m incredibly excited to be joining VCCP and to be able to help the team shape the next phase of the agency’s growth. VCCP is a great global agency brand built on inspiring values and an admirable belief in the value of commercial creativity. They are an agency with a point to prove, looking for clients with a point to prove; which is an infectious ambition and a compelling one too in a market that needs less Navy and more pirates!”

Says Dawson: “It’s great to have Andrew on board. He has the experience, enthusiasm and ambition to help spearhead our offering. I’m very excited about what we’re shaping here at VCCP Sydney. He’s got a great haircut too.”

Says Peter Polster, international chief operating officer: “I am absolutely delighted that Andrew is joining us as CEO in Sydney. As a global challenger agency for challenger clients we are particularly selective as to who is leading any of our seven offices around the world. Andrew is the perfect cast and we are all looking forward to working with him.”