BBDO reveals major shake-up: Clemenger BBDO, CHEP and Traffik combine under Clemenger; Lee Leggett named new CEO as Dani Bassil departs
BBDO Worldwide has announced that Clemenger BBDO, CHEP Network and Traffik will come together to form a leading full-service agency in marketing communications from the end of March.
The new Clemenger BBDO agency (known every day as Clemenger) will deliver end-to-end solutions across brand creative, experience, media, digital and commerce, powered by data and innovation.
As part of the restructure, Clemenger BBDO Australia CEO Dani Bassil will depart the agency after two years in the role, with CHEP Network CEO Lee Leggett stepping in as CEO. Bassil originally joined Clemenger BBDO following the departure of Jim Gall and was tasked with unifying Clemenger’s Melbourne and Sydney agencies.
The merger comes six months after the formation of global organisation Omnicom Advertising Group (OAG), which aligns creative networks BBDO, DDB, TBWA.
Clemenger BBDO, CHEP Network and Traffik’s clients include Samsung, Asahi, Mars, Michael Hill, The University of Sydney and 7-Eleven.
Says Les Timar, CEO, Clemenger Group: “Our focus is to create ideas that embrace and define the future – in service of our clients, people and creativity. Through its creative beating heart and breadth of expertise, the new Clemenger combines bold thinking with precision execution to turn ambitious growth aspirations into reality for our clients.
“We are embracing strength and scale to create a truly game-changing agency that perfectly balances our integrated capabilities across performance, marketing and brand platform creativity.”
“This is not about doing more with less. This is all about doing more with more.”
Says Leggett: “I feel very honoured to help Do Big Things for our clients by bringing together brilliant talent from across our teams into the new Clemenger agency. We have created a bold offering with a clear purpose – deliver big and measurable ideas that define tomorrow.”
“This is a modern agency ready to navigate a world where the need for smart, creative thinking remains more important than ever.”
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Leggett began her career in London working at some of the UK’s leading creative and digital agencies including Digitas, Tribal DDB and Dare, which under her leadership was awarded Campaign’s Digital Agency of the Decade.
Leggett relocated to Australia in 2013 to join IPG-owned media agency Initiative as CEO. She was appointed CEO of CHEP two years ago, joining from Wunderman Thompson Australia (now VML) where she commenced as CEO for AUNZ in 2020 and later assumed the role of chief growth officer for the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to Wunderman Thompson she consulted for agencies such as Havas and Publicis and worked with WPP AUNZ’s Hogarth.
Leggett attended Wharton Business School in Philadelphia having been awarded the Patricia Mann Award in 2008. In the UK she sat on the IPA Council and chaired the Digital Group until 2010. She remains an active member of Women in Advertising and Communication London (WACL) and has served on the Executive overseeing the Future Leaders Fund. Leggett was appointed as a Senior Advisor to the United Nations Development Programme for her work on The Lions Share Fund, a pioneering initiative that tackles wildlife conservation and animal welfare crises by redirecting advertising funds to augment biodiversity and sustainable animal-care practices.
Clemenger will work alongside Clemenger Group’s agencies and consultancies in Australia and New Zealand and be an integral member of the Omnicom Advertising Group and BBDO Worldwide community of global agencies – recognised as one of the world’s most creatively charged agency networks.
L-R: Les Timar, Nancy Reyes, Lee Leggett, Chris Beresford-Hill