Five join McCann as creative transformation continues in Sydney under ECD Michael Raso

McCann Sydney has added five new staff to its creative department, as the agency continues its transformation under recently appointed executive creative director Michael Raso.

Mid-weight creative team Jono Paul (top second from left) and Henri Azzi (top left) will join the agency from Ogilvy Sydney. Rachel Guest (top right) and Celine Faledam (top second from right), who became creative partners after graduating from AWARD School in 2009, have been appointed as a junior team; while Lauren Gordon takes up the role of creative project manager, following stints at agencies in the UK and South Africa.

Paul and Azzi have worked together for the past four years across a wide range of brands including: Sprite, Coca-Cola, Telstra, Le Snak and Butter Menthol. They also recently won the Google Creative Labs short-film competition for their two-minute comedy Lost in Spacey.

Says Raso: “Jono and Henri are super-cool, young and funny guys who are destined for big things. They’ll play a big part in the future of McCann and I can’t wait for them to get started.”

Guest and Faledam said they were both thrilled to be moving from freelance roles into their first permanent position. Says Guest: “It’s a great opportunity for us to start out at a place where there’s so much emphasis on the creative work. There are some really talented people here who Celine and I are bound to learn a lot from.”

The five new hires join hot on the heels of deputy creative director Neil Flory – who has previously worked with Paul and Azzi – and art director Patrick Chambers. They bring the total number of new creative hires to eight.