After stellar 13 years at VML Melbourne Jake Barrow takes on CCO role at VML, Czech Republic

Campaign Brief can reveal that Jake Barrow, group executive creative director of VML Melbourne and Sydney is set to take on the role of chief creative officer at VML Czech Republic in Prague, an agency of 400 people.

Having started as an art director at what was then George Patterson Y&R, Barrow went on to become creative director in 2015, ECD in 2017 and eventually group ECD of both Sydney and Melbourne offices in 2021. As a creative he was twice ranked in the top 20 in the world and is currently ranked 6th ECD globally by The Drum. His award haul exceeds 500 local and international awards, with 25 Cannes Lions – 7 gold.

His partnership with Melbourne and Sydney managing director, Sarah Bailey has seen VML rank as a Top 5 Australian agency in Campaign Brief’s ‘The Work’ for the last 5 years running including being crowned both Australian Agency of the Year and APAC Agency of the Year last year. The past twelve months also saw the agency achieve Global Agency of the Year at LIA and 2024 Australian Agency of the Year by Spikes Asia. During this period the agency also saw exponential growth, most notably winning back the Defence Force Recruiting account, while defending the Monash University account twice.

The agency currently boasts an enviable client list in Defence Force Recruiting, Ford, Coca-Cola, Colgate and Nestle as well as notching up multiple award-winning campaigns for brands such as Monash University, Defence Force Recruiting, Honest Eggs Co., Colgate, Rip Curl and Pizza Hut in the last 12 months.

Says Barrow: “When I first walked through the doors 13 years ago, I just wanted to make good work. Never would I have dreamed I’d become the creative leader of 2 offices and eventually transfer to the Prague office for a CCO role. It’s always been a goal of mine to work overseas, and Prague was on my radar because of the creative reputation of the office that Jaime Mandelbaum (CCO VML EMEA) built when he was there as ECD. With the current global leadership, staying in the network was a no-brainer.

“I want to say thank you to Sarah Bailey, Thomas Tearle and all the people I’ve worked with, past and present, who have shared the same drive for creativity I have – you’re all what has made me stick around for so long. And an extra special shout out to Paul Nagy, who has always had my back and taught me loads – even if it did come with many questionable fishing stories.

“I’m now very much looking forward to working with CEO’s Iva Welker and Bronislav Kvasnicka and the rest of the talented team in Prague. It’s already an incredible agency and I can’t wait to be at its service.”

Says Paul Nagy, chief creative officer, VML APAC: “Jake is one of the most talented, hard-working, creative, generous, thoughtful, meticulous, creative leaders I have ever had the pleasure to work with. He is focused and serious when he needs to be, and a joyful, funny, childish legend the rest of the time. Sure, he looks like the Monopoly Man (if the Monopoly Man took up boxing and served skater boi style with ironic t-shirts) but there’s no way we would have scaled the heights we have over the last 7 years without him. I am over-the-moon about his new gig as no one deserves it more and he will be a huge success. Barrow shines in Prague – you heard it here first.”

Says Sarah Bailey, managing director, VML Melbourne & Sydney: “Working with Jake has been a career highlight. He is kind, intelligent and wonderfully strange – the best combination for a creative partner. I think we’ve always trusted each other and that is something you can easily take for granted but never should because it’s very special. I’m so excited for him and I can’t wait to send him postcards in Prague.”

Says Thomas Tearle, CEO, VML AUNZ: “Jake is utterly unique – a gentleman, a leader and a friend – humble yet confident, emotional yet balanced but always always delivered with dry wit and a grin. His creative leadership has taken our business so far and whilst we will miss him in Australia, I love that he’s stepping up in such a different role in our incredibly connected team. In his own words… ‘yeah boi’!”

Says Iva Welker, CEO of VML Czech Republic: “We’re thrilled to welcome Jake as our new Chief Creative Officer at VML Prague later this year. As the leading agency in the Czech Republic, we’ve built a strong reputation for delivering impactful creative work for both local and global clients. With Jake’s leadership and vision, we’re excited to push creative boundaries even further and make our position as a creative powerhouse stronger.”

Barrow will continue working on key clients, such as Defence Force Recruiting, Monash and Haleon and will relocate later in the year. VML will announce a replacement for Barrow, shortly.

Photo credit: Christopher Tovo