BMF moves to ‘more agile’ and distinct three team structure – two in Sydney, one in Melbourne
BMF has announced internal changes to create a more nimble structure to best meet the needs of clients in today’s “always on” marketing environment.
The new structure will see the agency evolve into three distinct teams – two based in Sydney and one in Melbourne.
Each team will have a fully integrated Creative, Account Management, Planning, Production, and Digital/Social capability, focused across a smaller number of clients and between 50-100 staff. All three teams will be supported by BMF’s digital development unit.
Current executive creative director, Dylan Taylor (top), will become a managing partner and will lead one of the Sydney teams. Joining Taylor’s team is a new client director, Steve McCardle who joins BMF from leading UK agency CHI & Partners where he is a board member and head of client service. A new executive creative director is to be hired for the team and will be announced shortly.
The other Sydney team will be led by current head of account management, Chris Kay who will become a managing partner. Kay joined BMF this year from Manchester City Football Club where he was marketing director. Prior to Man City, he was head of account management at Fallon, London. Highly awarded BMF creative director Shane Bradnick (left), has been promoted to executive creative director of that team.
In Melbourne, creative director and chairman of MADC David Klein (left), will be moving up to the role of executive creative director, with Alita McMenamin being promoted to client director. A managing partner for the Melbourne team will also be announced in the future.
“BMF has long had a history of continually evolving our structure to improve our work and the way we work, hence the changes we are announcing today,” says BMF CEO Jeremy Nicholas (below).
“This three-team structure is absolutely the right way for a business of our size to go to market. It will make the work better, provide more opportunities for our people and make us more agile. To be the very best partner for clients in today’s marketing and communications environment an agency needs to be able to react quickly and develop high quality work in a continuous manner. To do that, you need a tight, talented working group.
With experienced leaders at the top of each of our three teams, it means our clients will have more senior people close to their business and close to the work. We’ll also be announcing some great new hires over the coming months to add to the great talent already in the building.
Our Melbourne team has done an outstanding job in growing the business and the agency’s creative profile in the two years since we opened our doors. We are looking to further support them to help take the business to the next stage.”
People across the agency are beginning to assume their new roles with the new structure coming into full effect in January 2012.
32 Comments
When something like this happens, it’s normally the result of the leaders falling out and wanting to do their own thing with their own accounts/teams.
Doesn’t make any sense otherwise. One agency, three cultures?
Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk…
Surely DK’s ready for that ECD role?
can i just say… good on you shane bradnick!
what a stellar fucking rise you’ve had.
well played.
I have nothing against BMF but truly innovative companies spend less time re-organising their internal structures and more time doing great work. All the big, terrible clients I ever worked for came out with these kinds of announcements twice a year. Invariably they made no difference. They were crap before and after. I hope this isn’t a sign of BMF becoming a corporate bureaucarcy .
Wow. That’s confusing.
I take it BMF pay more than Man City.
Rearranging. Deckchairs. Titanic.
Well deserved Shane and David. Ignore the doomsayers, they know nothing. As usual.
Great to see a young inspirational team emerging. Positive changes for Bmf. Congratulations Chris, Shane and Dylan.
El Presidente!
Shane and Chris will make an excellent team. I know which team I put my dollar on.
Makes complete sense.
Will each team be identified by platoon names, or will they get house colours?
Well done Shane Bradnick. You have come a long way mate. Who would have thought ripping a poster in half would create two ECD’s.
I suggest you all sit back, watch, and learn.
I guarantee that there will be method in what seems like madness
Lets not forget the departure of the MD and Gareth Cooper. Gareth is a champion.
2 good things to come out of the restructure – Shane will be brilliant (as always) and Dylan will make a far better suit than he did ECD.
Interesting….sounds like an extension of the BBH restructure in the early 90’s….and it is only more relevant now. Should work a treat if the core culture is strong enough and continues to be driven.
With Shane up top expect to see some solid creative coming out of this shop in the near future. #goodMove
“Agile… bingo!!!”
St Lukes did it before. Small, nimble, 35-person mini agencies. I read most of the book. The first half was by far the most interesting. Especially the bit about shoving it to the big agency and starting their own small agency. Then starting ‘another one’ once they realised that becoming a bigger agency made them all act like they were in a big agency. However, once he started with the philosophical, meaning-of-life stuff I lost all interest. And then the made up quotes at the end had me doing that motion where you pretend to put your fingers down your throat and make yourself sick because what someone is saying or doing or, in this case, what you’re reading has you thinking you’re going to be sick if it keeps going. Haven’t heard of St Lukes for quite while, come to think of it. I guess that’s one of the problems with being several small agencies – you kind of lose your identities.
Anyway, hope it works for you guys. Just don’t go making up quotes, OK?
Well, the work has dropped off after Mr Brown stepped back…so I can see why they’ve given him a more ‘business’ focused role.
Congrats Dylan and Shane.
Congrats Shane.
Head of Lunch! Brilliant Dylan, congratulations!
Smart move for a big agency.
Read here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number
armies do it, why not agencies..
Congratulations Dave. I hear lots of good things about the Melbourne office.
I agree that this is a smart move for an agency. My prediction is that the days of the separate digital business makes both the main agency and the digital business becoming redundant on their own.
The wave of inhouse is re-appearing and then in another 5 years the out source model will come back in. ;o)
Substitute ‘agile’ for ‘pommy’ and suddenly the entire article makes sense.
Congratulations Shane.
Love watching creatives give opinions on corporate restructures.
good to see BMF tackling the digital space, with putting 3 non digital people a at the head of these three teams.
The digital space looks promising at BFM