Wesley Hawes left 72andSunny Sydney this month, 17 months after taking the chief creative officer seat in January 2024. The agency has not announced a replacement structure. Hawes joined from Special Group, where he spent four years as executive creative director.
The departure marks the third CCO-level exit from 72andSunny Sydney since 2019. The agency cycled through creative leadership twice before Hawes arrived, a pattern that suggests either client-service friction or internal strategic drift. 72andSunny Sydney opened in 2016 as part of the network's Pacific expansion. The office has worked with Google, Telstra, and Commonwealth Bank, though no major account wins have been disclosed since mid-2023.
72andSunny operates as an independent within Stagwell's network following MDC Partners' 2021 acquisition and subsequent merger. The Sydney office competes directly with locally rooted independents like The Monkeys and Special Group, both of which have retained creative leadership for three years or longer on average. Short-tenure CCO cycles typically indicate one of three conditions: unclear creative mandate from holding-company ownership, client dissatisfaction with output velocity, or misalignment between local leadership and network expectations.
The replacement structure matters. If 72andSunny Sydney installs a creative director duo rather than a single CCO, it signals cost discipline and a flatter org chart, common among agencies managing margin pressure. If they recruit another CCO externally, it suggests confidence in the client base and appetite for another growth cycle. If they leave the role unfilled and shift creative oversight to the Los Angeles headquarters, it indicates the Sydney office is being repositioned as a service hub rather than an origination market.
CMOs with Australian media budgets above AUD 15 million should watch whether 72andSunny Sydney's next creative hire comes from a heritage agency or a digital-native shop. That choice will clarify whether the office is chasing brand campaigns or performance-driven creative. Holding-company watchers should note whether Stagwell consolidates 72andSunny's Pacific operations under a single leadership layer, a move that would mirror recent WPP and Omnicom regional restructures.
72andSunny Sydney's next 90 days will reveal whether this is a contained personnel issue or the start of a broader Pacific footprint recalibration. The agency has not responded to questions about interim creative leadership or the timeline for a permanent appointment.