Emotive appoints new head of fame following offering restructure
Emotive has nabbed former Thrive PR and Publicis Groupe talent Ashleigh Bruton as its new head of fame after a restructure that saw Matt Holmes’ depart in June.
Bruton joins after six months at Thrive PR, where she was national director, integration (creative, production, digital, social). Prior to that, she spent four years as head of content and social at Publicis Groupe’s Digitas, with other previous experience at Penske Media Corporation, Social Soup and more.
She will work closely with Emotive’s CSO and managing partner, Michael Hogg, overseeing the agency’s ‘fame’ offering, an integrated service that unites five areas – social, talent, partnerships, brand experience and PR. It hopes to position itself as an essential, not just desirable part of the creative process, opening doors to plenty of non-traditional briefs.
The offering launched in February, led by then head of social, talent & partnerships Rhian Mason, group creative director Darren Wright, and head of earned creative and PR Matt Holmes.
Rhian departed the agency in May, to take on a role leading Clemenger BBDO’s new social offering, while Holmes left in June as a restructure was required to strengthen capabilities outside of PR.
Simon Joyce, CEO of the agency, told Mumbrella at the time: “Matt, as head of PR and earned creative was an integral part of this launch. However given the trailblazing nature of this structure and the impact it has on how we do both strategy and creative, we quickly realised that we needed greater senior leadership in the strategy unit, as opposed to senior PR skills.
“For that reason, we parted company, and as difficult as it was as Matt is a terrific operator who brought wonderful energy and smart to the business, we had to make a quick call which is essential for a tight knit business like Emotive.”
Ashleigh Bruton
Following Holmes’ departure, the agency hired Irnin Khan as acting head of fame, who Bruton replaces to take on the permanent gig.
“The job description for this role was so broad it was a recruiter’s nightmare, but we ended up landing a dream candidate in Ashleigh,” Hogg said.
“She shares our belief in ideas not ads and fame as essential not just desirable for overcoming audience apathy. Ashleigh also cares as much about execution as she does about strategy and has a skill set to deliver both equally well. It’s kind of intimidating in the best possible way.”
She will lead a team of specialists across the five categories, integrating ‘fame’ into creative, strategy and production. Her previous experience saw her work with brands including Tourism Australia, Lexus, Woolworths, Johnson & Johnson, and many more.
“I’ve always believed that the best work is found at the intersection of creativity and culture, which is why I couldn’t be more thrilled to join the team at Emotive, a company that embodies this ethos every day,” Bruton said of her appointment.
“From the moment I met the team here, it was clear we share the ambition to create work that transforms how people feel and I can’t wait to dive into their impressive roster of clients to see what we can create together.”
She will begin on August 26, based in Emotive’s Coogee office.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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