OSTROM TO LEAVE CLEMS MELBOURNE FOR BURNETT SYDNEY GIG

After only six months, senior creative Andrew Ostrom (right) has decided to leave Clemenger BBDO Melbourne and return to Sydney to take up a senior position at Leo Burnett Sydney working alongside creative director Mark Collis.
Ostrom's team mate at Clems, Jonas Peterson, now joins Linda Honan to make up a new senior team effective mid-February.
Before being lured to Melbourne, Ostrom made his creative reputation at BMF Sydney with awarded work for Red Cross Blood Bank and Tooheys Extra Dry 'Tongue', ads he co-created with former partner Andrew Petch, now kicking ass at Publicis London.
Says Collis: "I heard some time before Christmas that Andrew was thinking of coming back to Sydney and that he was keen on getting into Leo's (pretty much the only agency he wanted to talk to) which was nice. To be honest I was of two minds about meeting with Andrew because I some some weird notion that we wouldn't get on. But I met with him and he was a really nice guy and I made up my mind right then and there that I'd hire him. His work speaks for itself but it's his attitude and personality that won me over. We're really excited about him starting and building on our B&T agency of the year title."
In 1996, Ostrom commenced his career in Melbourne at Lintas. A year and a half later he was invited to join the start up team for Cummins and Partners along with Andrew Petch. After joining Sydney agency BMF, the duo were responsible for some of Australia's most recognized and successful advertising campaigns. These include various award-winning Ikea campaigns (including "Stand In Dad") and the infamous "Tongue" spot for Toohey's Extra Dry, the campaign that increased sales by $40 million and was the 31st most awarded in the world including two Gold Pencils at AWARD.
Last year their "We gave blood" campaign for the Australian Red Cross won Bronze Lions at Cannes. The campaign increased online registrations by around 860% and won a Silver Clio and the Grand Award in its category at the New York Festivals.
July last year Ostrom and new partner Jonas Peterson (from Sweden) joined Clemenger BBDO Melbourne. And now he's returning to Sydney.
Says Ostrom: “Although from Melbourne originally, I consider Sydney to be my home. When the opportunity presented itself to join Sydney agency Leo Burnett, I just could not say no. Anybody looking at the output of this agency over the last year in particular would agree they truly are a world class outfit. I’m extremely excited to be joining the creative ranks there and I’m looking very forward to working with my new colleagues and clients to deliver world class work that yields results.”