Rob Beamish trades Publicis Mojo Melbourne head of art gig for CD role at JWT Melbourne

On the back of multiple new business wins and recent creative successes, JWT Melbourne has lured Rob Beamish (far left) from his position as of head of art at Publicis Mojo. He will come on as creative director and partner Jim Ritchie (near left), who will also be elevated to creative director, effective mid September.

The pair will work across all accounts and all channels to build on the agency’s creative momentum. Recent wins saw JWT Melbourne placed as the third most awarded Australian agency at Cannes.

The move is another blow to embattled Mojo Melbourne, which is still hanging on a decision by Tourism Victoria as to whether it keeps the business or goes elsewhere, with most punters believing the latter.

Beamish has picked up metal and finalists at Cannes, D&AD, AWARD, AXIS, MADC and IAB on brands including City of Melbourne, TVNZ, Yellow Pages NZ, Toyota Hilux, Boag’s Draught, Black & Decker and Scope. He started his advertising career in 1999 after winning AWARD School and has worked at George Patterson Y&R Melbourne, Leo Burnett Melbourne and more recently as creative group head at Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland and as head of art at Publicis Mojo Melbourne.

In addition to his advertising career, Beamish is also an accomplished screenwriter. His short film, Advantage was selected for the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 and True Love Waits, the feature script he co-wrote, won the Ztudio 3 Minute Opportunity Award at SPAA in 2006.

Meanwhile, since his arrival from London in mid 2009, Ritchie has been an integral part of JWT Melbourne’s creative resurgence, being instrumental in recent campaigns for Vegemite, Philadelphia, and notably as creative lead on the Melbourne Writers Festival campaign, which won metal at Cannes, D&AD and AdFest.

Says JWT Melbourne executive creative director, Richard Muntz: “Rob is an excellent conceptual art director and a red hot craftsman to boot. His decision to join JWT is a real coup for the agency. I’m super confident Rob and Jim will prove to be an extraordinary partnership, although why they’re holding hands already is beyond me.”