CB Exclusive: Spiller set to depart chief creative officer role at Fallon to return home to Australia
CB Exclusive – After 17 years with the Publicis group, 14 with Publicis Mojo in Australia and New Zealand, and three with Fallon in the USA as Chief Creative Officer, Darren Spiller is leaving the agency today – and will soon be returning home to Australia.
As this report goes live the staff of Fallon has just been informed of his departure.
Spiller joined Minneapolis based Fallon as Chief Creative Officer in 2009 after working his way from Senior Art Director to become the Regional Creative Director of Publicis Mojo and a member of the Publicis Global Board.
When asked why he and his wife would want to travel halfway across the world with five children in tow to Minneapolis, a city known for its brutally cold winters, Spiller smiled and said, “For the adventure of it, and because Fallon is a true creative icon of the industry. To have been a part of it will always be an honour.”
Spiller’s mandate when he arrived was to help rebuild Fallon’s creative credentials, help boost its market presence and win new business. Since taking the reins three years ago and in a time of one of America’s deepest recessions, Fallon is successfully well on its way again with a massive increase in revenue from new business, multiple staff hirings and a number of Lions in the last two Cannes seasons. Spiller said “there’s nothing more gratifying than leaving a place in better shape than when you arrived, it makes it all worthwhile.”
Spiller says there is absolutely no rush to find the next position, instead the Spiller clan are planning to return to their property in rural Victoria where he will spend a lot of time with his family and pursuing his interest in organic farming. Says Spiller: “I am looking forward to a wonderful sabbatical after three intense years away from home.”
Spiller’s departure comes five months after fellow Aussie expat head of art Christy Peacock left Fallon to join Us, Sydney as ECD. Spiller says two Aussies who both followed him from Mojo Melbourne – group creative director Leon Wilson and head of integrated production Corey Esse – will remain at Fallon.