Host/Havas has appointed former Droga5 New York creative Henry Kember as group creative director.
Kember has 15 years’ experience both locally and overseas, most recently working at Droga5 New York where he was creative director for two years.
He has also worked at agencies such as Crispin Porter + Bogusky LA, The Monkeys, and Saatchi & Saatchi.
In the newly-created role at Host/Havas, Kember will be based in Sydney and oversee projects across the entire Host/Havas client portfolio which includes Air New Zealand, NBA, Reckitt, Stockland, Palau Legacy Project, Avis Budget Group, Tassal and United Nations Free & Equal.
“Henry is a creative I’ve admired for years,” says Host/Havas ECD Jon Austin. “Not just for his incredible aesthetic and passion, but also for his ability to genuinely impact and leverage popular culture in his thinking.
“In fact, when we were chatting, I’d leave every call feeling like he’d somehow managed to jam several SXSW talks into our Zoom chat. And not even premium Zoom, just the 45-minute one, which is even more impressive. We’re absolutely thrilled to have someone of Henry’s fearsome calibre and talent join us at such an exciting time in our journey.”
Throughout his career, Kember has worked on brands such as Covergirl, PayPal, IKEA, and Diageo, winning more than 50 international awards.
“It’s a fascinating, challenging time to be in advertising,” Kember says.
“No one gets this more than Jon Austin, Olly Taylor and Laura Aldington, and no one’s better set up to thrive at this moment than Host/Havas. Plus they’re so nice I could never have pitched against them. Even the fact that Jon was front man for NZ’s version of Blink 182 couldn’t stop me signing on.”
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