Kirsty Muddle, founding partner and managing director of Cummins&Partners Sydney has been made chief executive officer of Cummins&Partners Australia. Meanwhile, Sheryl Marjoram, McCann London chief executive officer, is returning to Australia after two decades in the UK to become chief executive officer of DDB Group Sydney.

Sean Cummins, Cummins&Partners chief creative officer stated, “Kirsty is in the best position of any of us to see what the future of our agency and what the industry will be. We have always been an agency built for modern marketing and we will continue to be with Kirsty and our new management team steering the agency.”

Muddle added, “We’ve spent two years incubating, watching the world change and working on how we change with it. But for us, it’s not about changing into something different, it’s about getting back to what we’ve always been about – independent thinking. We’re bringing that entrepreneurial energy back into everything we do. We have a not-so-secret weapon in Sean Cummins who works hands-on as creative strategist with 37 years of wisdom that remains relevant and fresh today, continuing as chief creative officer across all three offices.”

At DDB Sydney, Sheryl Marjoram’s role covers creative agency, DDB; digital agency, Tribal; customer and data shop, Track; PR agency, Mango; and healthcare specialist, DDB Remedy.

Marjoram was business director at The Campaign Palace in Sydney before she relocated to London in 2001, where she has worked at Ogilvy & Mather, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Mother, and Saatchi & Saatchi. She joined McCann London in 2017 as managing director and was promoted to chief executive officer two years later. At McCann, she led a number of high-profile wins including Just Eat (which she retained when the company merged to become Just Eat Takeaway), TSB, and Pernod Ricard. She is the McCann Worldgroup UK Chairwoman for Conscious Inclusion and, this year, was named one of AdAge’s Leading Women in Europe.

Marjoram stated, “This new position demonstrates DDB’s deep confidence in the role brand will play in continuing to propel businesses forward. I’m looking forward to playing a part in that, alongside the wonderful people across DDB Group. I plan to get a proper nap on the plane because when I land, it’s game on.”

DDB Australia and New Zealand chief executive officer & president, Andrew Little, added, “I am blown away by the calibre of talent and energy Sheryl brings to this role. She is a force of nature and world-class operator who will drive collaboration across the entirety of DDB Group Sydney, and give her all to our people, our work, and our clients.”

Marjoram replaces Priya Patel, who was promoted from managing director of DDB Sydney to chief executive officer of DDB Group Aotearoa in June.