Leo Burnett appoints Bec Johnson-Pond, Tim Woolford + Tommy Cehak to group CD roles

Set to bolster its creative leadership firepower Leo Burnett Australia has appointed new group creative directors Bec Johnson-Pond (centre), Tim Woolford (right) and Tommy Cehak (left).

A track record for producing internationally recognised work, Johnson-Pond’s career has spanned three countries and 18 years. Originally from New Zealand, she got her start at Colenso BBDO Auckland where her work won many awards including the agency’s first ever Black Lion at Cannes.

During her decade long stint in the US, Johnson-Pond worked in both Los Angeles and New York for clients including Google, Toyota, Android, Nissan, Campbells and Hersheys. Her work for Toyota’s Prius c made it one of the fastest selling cars in the US and her work rebranding Panera reinvigorated the brand to become ‘one of Forbes brands to watch’ and landed them on AdAge’s Marketers of the Year. In Australia, she’s been across campaigns at TBWA for Lifesavers, mycar and Prime Video.

Named as two of the Top 100 most awarded creatives in the world by The Drum, Woolford and Cehak join the agency from Leo Burnett from DDB Group Australia after five years with the agency, where they worked together as creative directors on globally awarded campaigns including Foxtel’s ‘Grave of Thrones’ and Volkswagen Golf ‘GTI Hijack’.

Prior to DDB, Woolford was stationed at TBWA\Australia. While there, he worked out of the Los Angeles office, pitching and winning the global Twitter account, as well as spending time at TBWA\London working on Apple and Lidl.

Before DDB, Cehak was a senior creative at The Royals and an art director at Droga5. Throughout his career, he has remained committed to pushing boundaries. He has worked on campaigns for clients including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Qantas, Heineken, Netflix, NRMA and Westpac.

Together, the duo has won metal at every major award show including Cannes, One Show, D&AD, Spikes, and The Effies.

Says Andy Fergusson, national executive creative director, Leo Burnett: “I’m very excited that Bec, Tim and Tommy have joined our already formidable team, they are some of the best in the business, with excellent leadership and creative pedigrees. And the timing couldn’t be better. We have such great creative energy coming into this year with award and pitch wins, and these hires can only help supercharge that momentum.”