CHEP Network has welcomed the appointment of Paul Meates as executive creative director.
Meates returns home to Australia following a decade at Droga5 New York. His new role will see him lead the Sydney office’s creative talent and output, in addition to joining the agency’s national creative leadership team.
During his time at Droga5, Meates led multi-award winning campaigns for Meta, Ancestry, Prudential, Chase, Biofreeze, Facebook, CNBC, Allstate and Coca-Cola, with his work having received an Emmy nomination, in addition to Grand Prix and Best in Show awards.
In addition, Meates’ work for Coca-Cola was exhibited at the High Museum in Atlanta, his three films for Meta were accepted into the MoMA archives in New York, and in 2022 he was listed in Campaign US’s 40 over 40.
While working at Droga5, Meates co-founded The Great Brain Cell Sacrifice, a company that donated a book for every bottle of wine sold. The company launched three critically-acclaimed wines and donated enough books to fill seven libraries in America’s most under-funded schools.
Gavin McLeod, CHEP Network chief creative officer, said: “We have huge creative aspirations at CHEP to do ‘different-shaped’ work that defies media norms. To do this we need a creative leader who values and nurtures relationships with our clients and across the wide breadth of CHEP’s capabilities who help bring these ideas to life.
“Paul is by nature inclusive and collaborative, but also has a laser-like focus on what makes an idea great. I’m stoked to see another world-class creative talent return to Australia and incredibly proud that he has chosen CHEP as his new home.”
Meates, CHEP Network executive creative director, said of his new role: “CHEP is uniquely positioned to not only do the very best of what agencies are typically set up to do, but also the kind of work no other agency can. It’s a place with so much capability – anything is possible.”
“…and I missed Cheezels. So it was time to come home. You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone,” he added.
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Top image: Paul Meates