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"Hamish is one of the best creative directors I have worked with. He is an incredible partner, really understanding clients' unique needs, is solution-oriented, optimistic and just a joy to work with. He is willing to take bold risks as well has have the grit and determination to deliver often highly challenging and pioneering work. Some of the best projects I've worked on with Hamish were multi award winning, including Build with Chrome and Through the Dark. I would love to work with him again in the future."
- Lucinda Barlow, Global Marketing Director, YouTube
"Hamish makes me feel old. When I first met him he was an up-and-coming copywriter whose grammatical strengths were only surpassed by his unflappable nature. Over the years I've seen him grow from DM master to digital time lord. We've filmed pie eating lions and camp giraffes together, built shark detecting buoys and seen Australia go mad for Lego sculptures. Along the way Hamish has amassed Lions and Pencils without it ever going to his head, taught creatives how to be better creatives, suits to be better suits and having toyed with the idea of becoming a planner, he's undoubtedly helped them improve their craft. I was devastated when he left M&C for RGA. He's one of Australia's best."
- Ben Welsh, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Sydney
"Hamish is known to be one of the nicest men in advertising. What isn't so well known is that he is also one of the most talented, hard working, dependable, strategic and inquisitive men in advertising. He calmly and after his own fashion takes every brief he works on and turns it into a potential award winner. Sometimes the pen is mightier than the sword."
- Jim Moffatt, EVP Asia-Pacific, R/GA
"The feedback on Hamish's Digital lecture at AWARD School in 2017 was amazing. It was consistently voted the most interesting and informative lecture of the entire course. Naturally we invited him back again in 2018."
- Brendan Willenberg, AWARD School Co-Head / Creative Director, Clemenger BBDO Sydney
“Hamish is one of the most strategic, calm and considered Creative Directors I've had the pleasure of working with. He has a strong eye and passion for Strategic Design and UX, always pushing the usability of an idea as much as the creative itself. I always felt in very safe hands knowing Hamish was on a project. He never left a stone unturned, interrogating every aspect and always bringing it back to the strategy and the desired customer outcome. It was a real pleasure working with Hamish and one that I'm very grateful for.”
- Lorraine Gormley, Client Partner + Director, Client Management at CHE Proximity
"I’ve worked with Hamish for the last 6 years, during his time at both M&C Saatchi/Mark and R/GA. Hamish is all about the user. That’s why he is such a trusted voice on our brand. He doesn’t overcomplicate things. Even with so many technologically innovative collaborations together [he loves digital and is always playing on the very edge, from doing creative things inside a browser (Build with Chrome 2012, Movember Games 2013) to creating deeply immersive video experiences (Through the Dark, 2016)], Hamish is not one to get caught up in the idea for its own sake. His enduring focus is on the user - and how we can create a simple, delightful or powerful experience for them.
Hamish’s biggest impact however, is through his agency leadership, where he creates a culture of respect, honesty and passion, leaving all the swagger and ego typical of the creative process at the door. I’ve watched him mentor brilliant younger creatives, nurturing their passion for pushing boundaries while also modelling a more powerful way of doing business (and therefore driving impact) - really listening and leading collaboration with various teams at Google and with our other partners.
Hamish is one of my most trusted creative partners and I deeply value the respectful relationship that we have. It makes doing great work easy and fun. And isn’t that the point?
Also, he’s one of the best writers I know and one day when I die I want him to write my obituary. At least that way I know I would have approved it."
- Gabi Conlon, Head of Consumer Marketing, Google Australia
"I’ve had the pleasure of working with Hamish for many years. Initially we were thrown together as a creative team at M&C Saatchi and later shared ECD duties at R/GA Sydney. During this time I’ve come to know Hamish possibly better than his wife and it’s with no hesitation that I write a recommendation.
I’ll start by highlighting a few of Hamish’s traits that I hugely admire. It’s a sad truth that the line between right and wrong is becoming increasingly hard to delineate in our society. Not so for Hamish. He has a highly developed sense of ethics and has provided wise counsel to me on more occasions than I care to admit.
That’s just one string to his bow, though. He’s also the writer’s writer. As such he sets high standards for others, but also provides thoughtful guidance to help people progress in their careers. There are many creatives in high profile roles today who can testify to this. He couples all of this with a formidable intellect and an endlessly enquiring mind. At M&C Saatchi the Global Head of Strategy pulled out all the stops in an attempt to get him to switch tracks into strategy. She quickly identified him as one of the most naturally gifted strategic thinkers she’d encountered.
While he’s too humble to say so, he’s collected a fine collection of top tier creative and effectiveness awards over the years. I’m sure he’s quietly proud of these, but I’m equally sure that he values the trust and respect of his clients and the people he has worked with even more."
- Gavin McLeod, Executive Creative Director, AKQA San Francisco
“I have had the privilege of working with Hamish for several years, across multiple products and agency teams whilst at my time at Google. In that time he proved not only to be an incredible creative mind, but also a trusted partner to myself and my team. Hamish has an uncanny ability to listen intently and I have valued his perspective greatly - he is truly a calming presence and someone you want on your team. We've embarked on some crazy and audacious endeavours together, and I am looking forward to our next. I've no doubt clients, businesses and brands will continue to benefit from Hamish's creative & strategic mind.”
Ernesto Soriano III, Head of Marketing - Android, Platforms & Partnerships, Google AUNZ
“Hamish is a wise, calm and industrious creative partner. Never one to shy away from the tough questions, or a challenging brief, I always felt more confident about the success of a project with Hamish on the team. He’s a great team leader and nurturer, with absolutely no ego – a rare breed, and one that I’m grateful to have had the honour of working alongside.”
Kirsten Campbell, Group Account Director, R/GA
"I had the pleasure of working with Hamish at R/GA for over three years. Hamish sets high standards not only for himself but for everyone around him. During his time at R/GA, Hamish was involved in some of the most prolific creative work coming out of the agency - including globally recognised work on the Google account. He was a highly trusted client partner and integral to the success and growth of R/GA Sydney. He is also one of the most strategic ECDs that I have ever worked with. This has made him a wonderful mentor not only to myself but to other key members of the strategy team. On top of that, he's a wonderful human - super approachable with a great sense of humour. Any business would be very lucky to have him."
Alica Kroupa, Brand Communications and Media Manager, Nike Australia
“Hamish was my manager at R/GA Sydney for three years and I learnt so much from him during that time. He was always supportive, easy to talk to, and genuinely invested in me. As an ECD, he's brilliantly creative, and a true writer. He sets a high standard and inspires people to do their best work, while at the same time being completely approachable, level-headed and ego-free. Through his mentorship, my confidence and skills as a creative grew so much, and I hope I have the opportunity to work with him again one day.”
Kate Allan, Copywriter, R/GA Sydney / NY
“Hamish is hands down the best creative director I've ever worked with. He manages to simultaneously combine his distinctly thoughtful and calm demeanour with an innate instinct for killer ideas and a 'devil is in the detail' meticulousness to creative execution. Every review with Hamish results in constructive feedback that invaluably improves the work. He also has a wickedly dry sense of humour that will occasionally catch you completely off guard. I will miss working with Hamish.”
Cat Pitts-Tucker, Associate Creative Director, Mark
“I thoroughly enjoyed working with Hamish whilst at M&C Saatchi/Mark. He's a rare breed of creative who is both visionary in terms of cracking big ideas as well being an expert at the craft. He's a great leader of the creatives at Mark and an awesome guy to work with. Not precious at all and super collaborative. Hope to work with him again in the future :) “
Dan Pankraz, Head of Creative Strategy, Leo Burnett
“Hamish has got the gift of being able to not only create amazing ideas himself, but also to guide and craft other people's work. Teams thrive under his leadership. Clients trust him. He truly respects their business outcomes whilst pushing for award winning work. I was lucky to have had the opportunity to partner with him and wouldn't hesitate to do so again.”