After 18 months executive CD Simon Collins departs WPP-owned 1 Kent Street to consult
Simon Collins, executive creative director at 1 Kent Street, has departed the agency to set up his own consultancy. He still consults for WPP AUNZ as he did for the YES campaign.
At 1 Kent Street Collins, who joined in February 2016, produced the Recognise campaign, and Australian Olympic Team awareness campaign. The agency offers a collective of senior professionals able to quickly respond to large-scale and unique briefs.
One of Australia’s most awarded creatives, Collins was CD of the Campaign Palace in Sydney and Melbourne in the 90s, before launching his own agency, Collins Thomas Cullen in 2000. The agency was sold to WPP in 2004, and Collins became ECD of JWT Australia. He then moved to New York, where he worked at Y&R as global creative director of New Business. He then became European CD on the Colgate Palmolive business, dividing his time between the NY and Paris offices.
He also spent several years at Euro RCG (now Havas) London, where he was global CD on Reckitt Benckiser business, and a key creative in the successful 2010 Conservative general election campaign. During this time he also worked as global CD on Australian Wool Innovation (The Woolmark), creating the global ‘No Finer Feeling’ campaign which re-launched Australian wool as the most desirable fibre in the international high fashion category.
In 2011, he left Euro to set up a London-based international creative consultancy, with clients including AWI (Australian Wool) and Quorn (international food brand).
4 Comments
There are few better with pen in hand.
Good on him for soldiering on long after most writers his age have transitioned to other pursuits. The trouble with advertising is that once you’ve been at it for 70 or 80 years it’s hard to think of something else to do.
Off again. Of course. Never could stay in one place more than 2 years.
I’ve known Simon for about 40 years. He’s one of the most talented and hilariously funny people that I’ve ever known. An extremely hard-working creative who truly interrogates the product/service. He has a particular set of skills… All this, and he’s a Manc.