R/GA opens Sydney office, hires creatives from Whybin\TBWA and M&C Saatchi

Ameer Youssef, managing director, a long-time R/GA executive, has moved to Sydney to get the office up and running, after which he will find a permanent MD.

The agency plans to grow headcount to nine people by the end of the first quarter. McLeod and Rowe will initially be working on local R/GA clients including Qantas and Rip Curl, according to the agency. The Sydney shop will recruit across disciplines including technology, creative and production, commerce, mobile and digital retail in 2013, it said. 

Sydney, as a "hotbed of exciting talent" and "forward-thinking companies", is a natural fit for R/GA, according to Nick Law, global chief creative officer. The Sydney office will work closely with the Singapore office and play a key role as the agency looks to expand further into the region, he added.

“An Achilles heel of many Australian agencies has been their inability to deliver on what they promise in the digital space to clients” McLeod said. R/GA has a "proud culture of being a place where people build things", he added.

A 17-year industry veteran, McLeod previously was creative director at Whybin TBWA / Integer, where he oversaw the award-winning 'Car creation' campaign for NRMA Insurance. Earlier, he spent 11 years working at M&C Saatchi in Sydney, as executive creative director for digital.

Rowe has more than 12 years' experience in the Australian market and was most recently associate creative director at M&C Saatchi, where he oversaw Google's ‘Build it with Chrome’ project. He has also worked as head of digital for Emery Frost and as creative director for NetX.