Apparent appoints former Meta Head of Creative Shop Carmela Soares as Head of Social, Content and Creative Systems

Independent agency Apparent has appointed award-winning creative and strategic leader Carmela Soares as head of social, content and creative systems.

Soares previously worked at Meta Australia and New Zealand, where she was a head of Creative Shop. She has also held senior creative roles across leading agencies in Australia and internationally, won more than 100 awards, served on industry juries and lectured at AWARD School for more than a decade.

At Apparent, Soares will lead the agency’s social and content capability while developing systems that connect ideas, technology, platforms, data and production.

Her remit will include helping clients and teams understand the increasingly complex relationship between creativity and algorithms, developing platform-native ideas designed for how people discover, consume and share content, and connecting emerging AI technologies to agency workflows.

For Apparent’s clients, that means moving beyond AI as a novelty or production tool and embedding it across the creative process, from briefing and research through to content creation, optimisation and distribution, using it to unlock greater speed, scale and effectiveness and driving stronger creative and business results.

Says Soares: “Apparent is already pushing into the future, working with partners like Google and putting technology at the heart of how it creates for clients. I’m excited to build on that momentum, connecting craft, culture and tech in ways that make human ideas flourish.”

Says Suzy Smiley, managing director, Apparent: “Carmela understands that social and content are evolving faster than ever, and that the agencies leading the way are the ones that connect creativity, culture, technology and smarter ways of working. She knows how to build systems that make great ideas more agile, more scalable and more effective, without losing the human insight at the heart of them. She brings a genuinely progressive approach to how social and content can shape brands and drive growth. We’re incredibly excited to have Carmela join us and bring that thinking and ambition to the agency.”

The appointment comes as Apparent continues to build momentum, with new clients, talent and a growing reputation for work at the intersection of creativity, technology and culture. That momentum is reflected in a strong run of industry recognition in 2026, including Australian Marketing Institute agency of the year (over 50 employees), content and social media marketing and creative effectiveness wins for work with GTI and Vanuatu Tourism Office.

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