Emotive appoints new head of earned creative

Following further development to its ‘fame’ offering, Emotive has appointed Poem’s Jessica Cluff for the newly created role of head of earned creative.

Cluff joins the indie creative agency after nearly two years with Poem, where she led the comms agency’s creative offering.

Last week, Poem took her departure as an opportunity to “evolve [its] agency model” with some senior leadership changes. It also announced the appointment of Tom Manning as Cluff’s replacement.

In her new role at Emotive, Cluff will lead the agency’s earned creative output, leaning into its ‘fame’ offering that combines social, talent, partnerships, PR, and brand experience to “make an idea or brand famous”.

She will embed earned thinking into “every stage” of the process, working alongside group creative director Darren Wright, the strategy and creative teams, and the other leads of the five specialisms — Sarah Rosedale (acting social and cultural strategist), Rebecca Gelao (head of brand experience), Hannah Devereux (head of PR), and a soon-to-be-announced head of partnerships.

Jessica Cluff and Darren Wright

“I’ve always loved Emotive’s purpose – to create ideas that change how people feel. But to do that, you have to get their attention first. People actively ignore most of what we do. You need more than a beautifully executed film or a clever line to reach them,” Cluff said in a media release on Tuesday.

“Emotive has ambitious clients and a proven track record of getting people talking – I can’t wait to join them.”

Wright said Cluff is a rare breed of talent: “Having great ideas is one thing, knowing how they come to life in the world and engage people beyond advertising is another. Jess can do it all.”

Cluff joins the agency as it continues to evolve how it structures the ‘fame’ offering.

In February 2024, industry heavyweight Matt Holmes joined as its head of earned creative and PR, where he worked closely with Wright and then-head of social, talent, and partnerships Rhian Mason.

Just four months later, Holmes left the agency as it restructured due to “naivety” on how to set up the offering. During that time, Mason also left, to take on a similar role at Clemenger BBDO.

Following Holmes’ departure, the agency restructured, hiring Irnin Khan as acting head of fame, who Ashleigh Bruton then replaced to take on the permanent gig. She worked closely with then-chief strategist and managing partner Michael Hogg — who has also recently left the agency — to oversee the whole offering.

Hogg previously told Mumbrella that the offering struggled when the five pillars were not under one person’s remit, so Bruton’s role was integral. Last month, however, she left the agency to join Warner Bros Discovery as its head of social role, as it launched its streaming service Max into the Australian market.

As a response, Emotive’s leadership structure changed once again, returning to having specialism heads, rather than a single head of fame. Simon Joyce, CEO of the agency, told Mumbrella last month: “At Emotive, this shift has given us the chance to further evolve our structure in line with our agency wide ambition for fame.”

It also recently appointed TBWA’s Sebastian Revell as its executive strategy partner to replace Hogg.

Cluff will start at Emotive on April 28.

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