CB Exclusive: BMF appoints award-winning creative leader Stephen de Wolf as new CCO

Following last Friday’s CB exclusive news of his departure from DDB Australia, CB can reveal that Stephen de Wolf has joined BMF as its new chief creative officer, filling the void left by the departure of former CCO Alex Derwin back in April.

The creative leader joins BMF from DDB Australia where he spent the last three years as its national chief creative officer. During his time at DDB, de Wolf was also on the board of DDB’s Global Creative Council and served as the CCO of Smith Street, a specialist marketing agency servicing the Coles account. Prior to DDB, he was the CCO and partner of BBH in London, where he also sat on BBH’s Global Creative Board.

Before moving to London in 2020, de Wolf was the chief creative officer at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, where he was responsible for some of advertising’s most effective and lauded campaigns, including Transport Accident Commission’s ‘Meet Graham’—which was the most awarded creative campaign across the globe in 2017—, Snickers’ ‘Hungerithm’, and Airbnb’s ‘Until We Belong’.

Those campaigns saw Clemenger BBDO Melbourne take home multiple Cannes Lions Grand Prix awards and ultimately saw the agency recognised as the world’s most creative agency at both D&AD and Cannes—the first and only time for any Australian agency.

Throughout his established career, he has also led the creative output for some of the world’s most renowned brands including Tesco, Barclays, Westpac, McDonald’s, Coles, Volkswagen, Audi, and Burger King. As well as leading award-winning campaigns including Tesco’s much-loved 2020 ‘No Naughty List Campaign’; Barclay’s ‘Moneyverse’ brand relaunch; McDonald’s ‘Original Mouthful’; and numerous others.

Says de Wolf: “From early on in my career, I’ve admired everything about BMF. They’ve been a constant creative consciousness in our industry—known for great creativity and strategy, but importantly, an amazing people culture. It’s not lost on me the shoes Alex has left to fill, but I’m looking forward to giving it a good go alongside the brilliant Steve, Christina, Tara, the two Daves, and the rest of the BMF team.

“I’d also like to say a big thank you to DDB and the clients for a wonderful time. Working with the team at DDB has been a privilege and career highlight.”

Speaking of the appointment, BMF CEO, Stephen McArdle says: “As much as I felt uncomfortable hiring someone who shared my first name, it became clear during the time we spent with Wolfie that he would be a perfect fit for BMF. His creative track record is eye-wateringly good, he holds the respect of the very best agency and client leaders globally and, most importantly, he is an incredibly lovely, considered human – and at BMF that’s means everything.

“Beyond that, Wolfie’s experience developing tech-enabled, immersive brand experiences before they were even-a-thing, was incredibly impressive. When you couple that with his effortless ability to lead big blue-chip businesses in some of the toughest categories in the country, such as retail and financial services, you have someone who’s pretty handy to have around. And, if that wasn’t enough, Wolfie’s experience and reputation in Melbourne is a wonderful asset in helping super-charge BMF’s renewed ambitions in that market.”

The appointment of de Wolf follows the agency winning the Endeavour Group account last month and topping the Effie awards shortlist last week.