Adam Ferrier has quit Naked communications as Enero brings in Carl Ratcliff to head up the Australian office.
Ferrier's exit follows the departure of Mike Wilson, his fellow founder in Australia, in July.
Ferrier told AdNews he was going to "clear his head and decide what do". He said he'd been trying to get Ratcliff on board for a while and that after nine years with the agency it was time to do something new.
Ratcliff resigned from BWM Melbourne last week. He moved to Australia from the UK in February last year.
While most CEO's tend to come from an accounts background, Ratcliff's pedigree in planning resonates with Naked's historic focus on strategy. Naked Melbourne's managing director Tom Ward was previously head of planning at GPY&R.
See the release here:
Carl Ratcliff joins as CEO whilst Adam Ferrier resigns
Carl Ratcliff will be joining Naked Communications, Australia as CEO. With a career spanning twenty years, Carl brings a broad range of experience to Naked having led planning, creative and agency teams at TBWA/London and Elvis UK plus working client side at iconic British TV network Channel 5. Most recently he had a successful stint as Managing Director of BWM, Melbourne. Carl will be relieving Tim Parker, who has been acting CEO of Naked Australia since July.
Matthew Melhuish, CEO of Enero, commented:
“Carl has the perfect set of credentials to run Naked Australia. He’s proven that he can lead a winning team and deliver outstanding results for clients plus he brings with him a fresh perspective and an internationally recognized track record for ground-breaking, innovative work. Carl is a great cultural fit for Naked but has also commercially ‘cut his teeth’ in the Australian market doing a great job at BWM. Carl will join the Naked team in early November.
We also sincerely thank Tim Parker for stepping into the fold at short notice in July and for his professionalism and stewardship of Naked over the past few months. Tim is a class act and we are looking at other ways to deploy him within the Enero group. ”
In an unrelated but equally important announcement Naked Communications’ Global Head of Behavioural Sciences, and local co-founder Adam Ferrier has announced his resignation. Of his departure Adam commented:
“I am incredibly proud of everything we’ve achieved at Naked, here and around the world. We created a wonderful working environment and we’ve produced oodles of world class, recognized and effective work for our amazing clients. Personally and professionally the time is right for me to leave Naked and pursue a new adventure which I’ll be announcing shortly. I represent the first phase of Naked – my leaving will give the new management team some fresh air to create Naked next. I’m excited that Carl has accepted the role as CEO – I’ve had numerous chats with Carl recently, and he is no question the right man for the job. I wish him and Naked all the best.”
Matthew Melhuish commented:
“We thank Adam for his hard work and tremendous dedication to Naked. He’s been instrumental in building one of the most powerful brands in the Australian marketing and communications landscape. We wish Adam all the very best for his next adventure.”
Other key Naked Australia leaders remain in place including Karla Pritchard - Managing Director Sydney, Tom Ward - Managing Director Melbourne and Simon Veksner - Creative Director.
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