Emotive shuffles the deck as Ashleigh Bruton jumps to WBD
Emotive’s head of fame Ashleigh Bruton has moved on after less than a year in the role, taking on the title of head of social at Warner Bros Discovery, ahead of its Max launch later this month. As a result, Emotive’s agency structure is being altered once again.
As WBD gears up for the launch on March 31 — for which it has just revealed the content, prices, and plans — it is working on its social launch, and has nabbed Bruton to lead it.
At this stage, her role is “100% focused” on Max, she told Mumbrella, but “the launch is only the beginning” with some more “tentpole moments” to come throughout the course of the year.
Aside from being “obsessed” with TV shows and movies for as long as she can remember, Bruton said she has taken on this challenge because WBD is “on the brink of a huge milestone” and being a part of the team bringing that to life “was simply too good of an opportunity to pass up”.
Bruton
“I’ve considered going client-side for a while now but after spending my entire career in the agency world, the timing never felt quite right – until now,” she told Mumbrella in an email.
“The opportunity at Warner Bros Discovery with Max is like no other. Blending the worlds of HBO, Warner Bros. Discovery, and more with the fast-moving culture of social is a dream opportunity. What excited me most is that each show feels like a unique client, each with a different audience that engages with social in its own way.
“That means we constantly have to be on our A-game and come up with new ways to show up, connect and engage.”
In her role as head of social, she will lead the strategy and execution of WBD’s social channels.
WBD has also appointed a social media agency for Max’s launch. Present Company will work closely with Bruton and the in-house team.
Sasha Mackie, senior director of marketing and WBD Australia and New Zealand, told Mumbrella that Present Company are “the right people” to help Max capitalise on its already advantageous social presence.
“From day one, Present Company impressed us with their data-driven smarts and creative firepower. They know how to be part of culture,” she said.
The appointment of Present Company completes the agency village — alongside creative partner Special Group and media partner EssenceMediacom — for Max’s debut.
Bruton joined Emotive in August last year after a restructure to the agency’s ‘fame’ offering. Described as an integrated service that unites five specialisations — social, talent, partnerships, PR, and brand experience — the fame structure has proved dicey for the agency since the beginning.
In February 2024, industry heavyweight Matt Holmes joined the agency as its head of earned creative and PR, where he worked closely with then-head of social, talent, and partnerships Rhian Mason and group creative director Darren Wright.
Just four months later, Holmes left the agency as it restructured. During that time, Mason also left, to take on a similar role at Clemenger BBDO.
Following Holmes’ departure, the agency hired Irnin Khan as acting head of fame, who Bruton then replaced to take on the permanent gig. She worked closely with then-chief strategist and managing partner Michael Hogg — who has also just left the agency — to oversee the whole offering.
In November, Mumbrella sat down with Hogg and Bruton to talk through the offering, and how important Bruton’s role was.
Hogg said with the five pillars not originally being under one person’s remit, Emotive’s structure began to blur; much like the lines between the disciplines.
“The step to get to a holistic head of fame was always in the plan, but we were naive to think how we could structure it at first. It wasn’t any one significant thing that happened that led to a need to change the structure, it was a simple evolutionary thing,” he told Mumbrella at the time.
Bruton and Hogg
Now, it seems Emotive is shuffling the deck again, with the recent appointment of Sebastian Revell as its executive strategy partner and soon-to-be-revealed appointments of a head of earned creative and a head of partnerships.
Revell will officially start at the agency next week.
Emotive’s founder and CEO, Simon Joyce, told Mumbrella the ambition hasn’t changed, and the agency is as committed as ever to drive the fame offering.
“Ash [Bruton] has an incredible opportunity client-side with WBD, and I have no doubt she’ll smash it,” Joyce said in a statement to Mumbrella.
“At Emotive, this shift has given us the chance to further evolve our structure in line with our agency wide ambition for fame.”
Of her stint at the creative agency, Bruton said: “I loved my time at Emotive but the opportunity to launch a global streaming service with such premium content is a once in a lifetime opportunity and that isn’t something I could pass up.”
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