Saatchi & Saatchi Head of Creativity Simon Bagnasco and CSO Alex Speakman set to depart for partnership roles at Bullfrog

Independent creative business Bullfrog has today announced its new partnership team, which includes Saatchi & Saatchi’s Simon Bagnasco and Alex Speakman ~ effective May ~ and recently appointed managing director Matilda Hobba.

Speakman (above right) is the current chief strategy officer on Toyota at Saatchi & Saatchi. He joined the business 12 years ago and helped found the Melbourne office. Simon Bagnasco (above, seated) is head of creativity, having joined the business in 2017.

Together, Bagnasco and Speakman played pivotal roles in driving the success of the Saatchi brand in Australia. In 2022 – off the back of work for the Royal Australian Mint and Toyota – WARC’s World Creative Rankings named Saatchi & Saatchi the most awarded agency in APAC and the 7th worldwide. Bagnasco was also ranked #1 ECD in Asia Pacific Region by One Club Global Rankings.

Says Dalton Henshaw (above left), founder and CEO of Bullfrog: “My vision of us being a world-class creative business requires world-class people. In just two years, we have built a diverse and talented crew of 40, and today, I’m thrilled to officially announce my new business partners in Matilda, Simon and Alex, whose global experience and leadership in the creative world will help us achieve our world-class ambitions.

“Bullfrog has never aspired to operate in the traditional ways of the serviced- based agency models. For 12-months, I have met with some of the most renowned people our industry in a quest to solidify the right team. From one meeting with Tilly, Simon and Alex, it was evident that the vision to break the shackles of how things have always been done, was shared. However, what makes this partnership even more effortless was the alignment on our existing ambitions of being a team who supercharges our clients’ brands with our strategic and creative smarts, but also, utilise our full-service capabilities to transform our own ideas into fully fledged businesses.

“The four of us come to the table with complimentary career paths, skills and roles. Simon will be responsible for driving the creative product for both the communications and brand development side of the business. Alex will lead our strategic offering – comprising of brand, content, media, earned and experience planning – and Matilda as managing director will be responsible for the bolstering our people – first culture, whilst supporting me in driving overall operations and growth of Bullfrog.”

Says Bagnasco: “I am incredibly proud of my time at the ‘Nothing is Impossible’ company. This iconic line has been the anchor for everything the team achieved over the last few years. But the highlight has been the relationship I’ve forged with Alex. Our own ambitions have outgrown what a traditional agency structure can achieve, which is why the opportunity to join an entrepreneurial company like Bullfrog is so exciting. As partners, we will get the chance to continue the great work we’ve done together, but also drive towards a shared ambition of innovating outside of traditional agency borders.’

Says Speakman: “No one stays at the same place for 12 years if they don’t love both where they work and the iconic brands they work on, like Toyota. I wouldn’t be who I am today without the people I’ve met during my Saatchi days. But Dalton’s energy and track record of successful entrepreneurship is well known, and the opportunity to pair our creative and strategic partnership with him as the next phase in our careers was too exciting to pass up. To not just build our clients brands but also build our own ideas as partners in the business, I couldn’t be more thrilled about joining Dalton and the team at Bullfrog and making our ideas reality.’

Says Hobba (above): ”Bullfrog is built upon true people – first foundations; a belief that life and work can’t (and shouldn’t) be separated, and that our role is to support people to thrive in both. This is rare in our industry and in business in general – and it’s a vision we’re all keen to perpetrate via this partnership. Our aim is to prove it is absolutely possible to run a world – class creative business without sacrificing the culture or the health of the people within it.”