Leo Burnett Sydney creative director, Kieran Ots, is leaving after nearly twenty years. He has been named executive vice president, executive creative director at Leo Burnett’s head office in Chicago, leading the global Samsung account.

Ots joined Leo Burnett in 1999 as a digital designer. Two years later, he became digital creative director, and in January 2011, creative director.  He contributed to the Samsung account in Sydney, building up a global knowledge of the business. He will begin his new role immediately and will report to Britt Nolan, chief creative officer, Leo Burnett Chicago.

“Kieran is a strong leader with a gift for creating ideas that connect deeply with humans, regardless of medium,” Nolan stated.

“He approaches business issues with creative solutions – not just ads. Kieran is the perfect fit to help us continue our transformation.”

Ots commented, “Samsung is an incredible brand with a strong sense of purpose, and it plays a huge role in people’s lives. Everything it makes is as much about people as it is about technology, and fostering that connection is a critical component of our work.”

Ots most applauded digital project is Run That Town for the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a smartphone game using the country’s census figures, which raised awareness of census data among Australians. Players had to approve or reject proposals for their own neighbourhood and the outcome, pleasing or displeasing residents, varied according to the postal code in which users were playing, as the game used real demographic data.

Run That Town won Gold in Creative Data at Cannes Lions. Ots was appointed a juror at Cannes in that same category the following year. The project also earned awards from The ONE Show and D&AD, and was featured in Google Creative Sandbox, a gallery of best-in-class advertising creative.

Ots’ other clients at Leo Burnett Sydney included Canon, McDonald’s and Subaru.