Matt Swinburne has joined Colenso BBDO as executive creative director from Special Auckland, where he was group creative director. He arrives at the agency with a backpack full of experience from top tier agencies, Droga 5 & McCann New York, Mother, Havas and AMV BBDO London, Leo Burnett Sydney, DDB New Zealand and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Si Vicars, Colenso BBDO chief creative officer commented, “Matt’s been a nemesis of mine my whole career. His work has consistently given me the jealous sweats. From Snickers Superbowl spots to installations for London’s Design Museum, he’s an incredible thinker and maker. And he’s a fantastic human to have around. Along with Duncan Bone, Matt’s an important part of what we’re building at Colenso. We have a simple aim of surrounding ourselves and our clients with the best talent in the world.“ 

Swinburne has created awarded work for Diageo, NZ Coastguard, NY Lotto, Toyota, Snickers and Barcardi. His most recent standout campaigns include Snickers’ Superbowl spot, Fix The World, and Bombay Sapphire’s Design Museum Supermarket. These earned him an impressive haul of awards at D&AD, Cannes, Clio and three Gold pencils at One Show. 

Swinburne commented, “I’ve had a Colenso crush for a long time, so I’m very excited to be joining Si and the team on College Hill. They’re the masters of surprising work that’s always insightful and entertaining. I can’t wait to help them make more of it.” 

Swinburne joins Duncan Bone, Hadleigh Sinclair, Kimberley Ragan, Dave Brady and Si Vicars on Colenso’s creative leadership team.