Wunderman and BMF both amped up their creative departments in the last few days. here’s how:

Wunderman found its Wonderwoman this week. Her name is Anna Karena and she has just been become Wunderman Australia and New Zealand’s first executive creative director.

The role that lured her from Lavender Sydney gets Karenaworking with Wunderman ANZ’s national creative director, Shanan Goldring, to deliver what her agency sees as its calling card – world-class, data-driven creative solutions to meet clients’ communication challenges. She has spent the last fifteen years at Lavender, five as creative director.

Wunderman managing director, Andrew Davie, stated, “I am absolutely thrilled to have someone of Anna’s caliber and immense creative and storytelling ability join the Wunderman ANZ team. She is a proven leader, hands-on and teams gravitate toward her. She also has terrific senior client and agency respect in the industry for her work. I am 100% convinced this combination will be a powerful one for our broader team, our core management group and, most importantly, our clients.”

“Wunderman is beautifully positioned to deliver the kind of data- and service-led marketing that today’s clients and their customers are buying,” Karena added. “Backed by global firepower, applied through a locally sensitive filter, it’s an offering that’s truly formidable in the Australia-NZ market. I’m so excited to be joining this team, at this time. There’s great chemistry amongst the execs—we’re already tight.”

“Anna is a leader, an inspirer and a hardcore direct and digital creative innovator,” said Lincoln Bjorkman, global chief creative officer, Wunderman. I’m thrilled to have her award-winning skills and experience brought to bear on our entire global creative network, starting in Australia. She is an extraordinary talent and a wonderful creative partner. I cannot wait to see what she does next.”

Meanwhile BMF has poached  on of the The McDonald’s Loose Change creative duos – art director, Dantie van der Merwe and copywriter, David Fraser – from DDB Sydney.

“Dantie and David have already slotted a couple of goals. The fact that they are thoroughly nice guys is just a bonus,” BMF executive creative director, Cam Blackley, commented.

The South African ex-pats won Silver at Spikes Asia and the AWARD Awards this year, for their McDonald’s Loose Change print campaign. And they have worked on Volkswagen, Eclipse Chewy Mints, McDonald’s, History Channel, Sprite, SAB Miller, BBC Food, Audi and Discovery Channel during their careers.

Between them, they’ve also picked up Gold at South Africa’s Loerie Awards, a One Show In-book Nomination, Bronze at Clio, and been on several Cannes Lions shortlists. A short film they co-wrote, ‘Status Update: A Facebook Fairytale’, won the Special Jury Prize at the Friars Club Comedy Festival recently, and was a finalist at the San Jose Short Film Festival.