DDB Sydney snares M&C Saatchi creative director Ant Melder for creative partner role

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Ant Melder pic (1).jpgDDB Sydney has announced the appointment of Ant Melder to the position of creative partner. Melder is the sixth senior creative partner hire for DDB Sydney chief creative, Toby Talbot. He joins from M&C Saatchi Sydney where he’s been a creative director since 2013.

 

Says Talbot: “We are delighted to welcome Ant to the family. I have watched his career for years. He’s an accomplished writer and a lovely bloke to boot. He really is a perfect fit for DDB when you think about Bernbach’s ‘talented but nice’ philosophy. But there’s a sharpness there too, ‘Game of Balls’ being a great example of his ability to think differently.”

Melder’s work has been recognised at Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Clios, Spikes and Webbys.

Says Talbot: “Many of our biggest clients are market leaders in their category. Ant is best in class too as one of the most accomplished creatives in the country. Together, I believe we will benefit hugely from Ant’s experience.”

 

Melder is a London native who first came to Sydney in the ’90s and started his advertising career at VCD under George Betsis and Siimon Reynolds.

 

Returning to London a few years later, Melder worked across advertising, digital, activations and retail at agencies including M&C Saatchi, Wunderman, Saatchi & Saatchi, Saatchi X and Iris Worldwide.

 

Melder was a CD in London for over five years before moving back to Australia in 2013 where he joined M&C Saatchi Sydney as a creative director. During his time at M&C he co-led the Optus business and created award-winning anti-smoking campaigns for QUIT.

 

Melder’s most recent award success is the globally talked-about PSA-in-a-porn-film, Game of Balls for the Blue Ball Foundation. The audacious testicular cancer awareness project has been viewed over ten million times and has picked up a Cannes Lion, silver Clio, seven Spikes, five ADMA ACEs and five LIA awards so far.

 

Says Melder: “There’s a definite buzz around DDB right now. It’s packed with brilliantly talented people doing world class work for iconic brands. Which is as it should be considering this is the agency that invented good advertising. Unfortunately, Toby’s a Chelsea supporter but, putting that to one side, I can’t wait to get stuck in, be part of it and help create work that blends ideas and innovation – work that has its finger on the pulse and a real beating heart.”

 

Melder is passionate about developing the next generation of creative talent and has taught both D&AD workshops in London and AWARD School in Sydney. He also writes a creative blog, Ant’s Melderings (https://antmelder.wordpress.com), has written about creativity for several industry and mainstream publications

 

Melder commences with DDB Sydney effective January 4, 2016.