Batey revamps as creative staff quit

SINGAPORE: The former creative group head at South African agency Jupiter Drawing Room, Peter Callaghan, will be joining Batey Ads, which is restructuring its creative department following the departures of several senior people. Batey Group chairman, Jon Collins, who was previously the managing director of Jupiter Group, said Callaghan is a copy-based creative and is one of the top three creatives in South Africa. Callaghan will start in mid-July, Collins said, adding that he "is coming in with the support of all the creative group heads". Callaghan replaces Gary Tranter and Matt Cullen (see P6) who left to become executive creative directors at Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong. Other recent departures include Andrew Reznik, who is now executive creative director at Lowe Lintas & Partners,while copywriter Rodd Chant and art director Richard Copping left to join BBDO. Callaghan said of his move: "I have been at Jupiter forever, so I am at the point in my career where I'd welcome a challenge." Despite the spate of departures, Collins said the agency's staff turnover stood at seven per cent this year compared to 44 per cent last year. The restructuring means staff now work in four brand teams, each with its own creative group head. Gary Caulfield is creative group head on Singapore Airlines, Justin White handles OCBC, Jason Hodges is on StarHub and the agency is looking for a creative group head for Mercedez-Benz. Collins said: "By 2003 we want to be regarded as the best creative solutions network." Collins also plans to appoint a creative director for the Batey Group, which has six offices in Asia-Pacific, and will be introducing a benchmarking system similar to Leo Burnett's 7-plus ratings plan.

Sign In

Trouble signing in?

Reset Password: Click here

Contact Customer Support at

Customerservice@campaignasia.com