Wunderman Thompson boosts national creative with hires across Sydney, Melbourne and Perth

Wunderman Thompson Australia has recently added five new creatives to its ranks including Iain MacMillan, who jumped on board as creative director in Melbourne, firming up the office’s creative leadership alongside Stephanie Gwee, also promoted to creative director after joining the agency in September last year.
Originally from the UK, MacMillan joins from Bullfrog, and throughout his 12 years in advertising has worked across some of the best agencies in Australia and New Zealand including CHEP, Colenso BBDO and Special NZ. His work for brands like Google, Pedigree, Anchor Milk and Mountain Dew has picked up metal at all major award shows.
Says McMillan: “It’s an exciting time at Wunderman Thompson, with the agency poised to create some amazing work. Charting where the agency could go is one of those challenges I can’t wait to undertake with Steph and João.”
The agency has also bolstered its Sydney team with the recent hiring of Maddy McGuinness and Jared Kinsler, and in Perth with Brendan Morrow and Jade Koch.
McGuiness joins as art director after two years at DDB, where she turned nuggets into a symbol of love, launched fry-themed budgie smugglers, and hid retail ads into trending content on TikTok. She partners with Kinsler, copywriter by day and musician by night, who recently relocated from Austin, where he worked at IBM and also won Clios for marathon anthems he created for Nike.
Morrow joins as a junior copywriter in Perth after taking the number one spot nationally at AWARD School 2022. After a career break in Canada, Koch joins as a graphic designer from Media on Mars.
Says João Braga, chief creative officer, Wunderman Thompson Australia: “It’s an exciting time for Wunderman Thompson in Australia as we make our national team more fluid and connected with the arrival of this lovely bunch of great humans and amazingly talented individuals. Can’t wait to see them pushing the bar for our clients, driving innovation, and elevating our craft.”
12 Comments
Atta girl, Steph Gwee. Legend in Singapore, now smashing it in Aus.
A Wundiddlyumptious lump of Wundernuts.
Go on Macca. Legend.
Steph (legend) + Iain (legend) = F@%king amazing. Can’t wait to see the work from these two.
It ain’t easy being GWEEZY.
From an agency that most avoid, to now hiring top talent. Whatever WT are doing recently seem to be working? Did they win new biz or something?
Nothing. I’d hazard a guess at $$$
You hire one good egg, and more good eggs follow. Changing the entire culture. The ripple effect is that simple.
Anybody who gets to work with Iain on a daily basis is a lucky person. Great human, great work and great ability to bench press his body weight.
Im jealous of Iain’s physical and mental prowess.
On ya Iain. If you think his bench press is impressive, you should see what he can do with a tray of biscuits.
Tray of biscuits for Macca, tray of tequila for Steph. Weird combo, but might work.