Emotive appoints former Poem co-founder/ECD Matt Holmes as head of PR and earned creative
Matt Holmes, former co-founder and ECD of Poem, has joined Emotive in the new position of head of PR and earned creative, providing extra creative firepower and a unique and genuinely integrated ‘fame’ offering for brands.
Holmes (pictured above) is a respected PR industry leader with 20 years of experience in the UK and Australia, who co-founded the highly successful independent PR agency Poem where he spent eight years working across the likes of Sony Playstation, Nestle, Tourism Australia, Amazon and Apple’s Beats By Dre and guided the agency to a number of awards.
The role will be deeply integrated into Emotive’s ‘fame’ offering, and for the first time sees PR delivered internally alongside the agency’s existing social, talent, partnerships and brand experience specialisms.
Says Simon Joyce, CEO and founder, Emotive: “The truth is, good advertising doesn’t always look like advertising any more. Our purpose is to create ideas that change the way people feel, and with the majority of brands met with indifference, and people actively dodging ordinary advertising, that increasingly means ideas not ads and fame as essential not just desirable. Enter Matt. He’s a proven creative PR leader and working closely with Rhian Mason, head of social, talent and partnerships and Darren Wright, group creative director, will seamlessly weave PR into the fabric of our creative and production processes. With the growth we’re experiencing and an ambition to create the kind of work no-one has done before, this is such an exciting move for Emotive. We can’t wait for him to get started.”
Says Holmes: “I have always believed in putting PR at the beginning of the creative process with the ambition to earn fame for brands and maximise marketing spend ROI via a genuinely integrated approach. Briefs like this are still frustratingly rare, with PR often seen as a bolt-on in silo. So, my next move was never going to be another PR agency. With the strength of Emotive’s idea first creative offering alongside their expertise in areas proven to garner earned media, this is the perfect fit to help brands create multi-channel fame and real impact. It’s the future of brand PR in my opinion.”
“The culture that Emotive is renowned for and transparency with clients was also key and is aligned with how I like to operate. I am so proud and excited to be joining the leadership team and working alongside and learning from world-class talent Rhian, Darren, Hoggy and Simon to create even more momentum and help them creatively and commercially reach the next level.”
Holmes is based out of Emotive’s Coogee HQ and the appointment is effective from March 4.
(Pictured L-R: Simon Joyce, Rhian Mason, Matt Holmes)