Dentsu Creative Australia has appointed Stu Turner as chief creative officer, following the announcement of Ben Coulson’s departure as ANZ chief creative officer, in May 2025. He begins on Monday. Brett Colliver, former co-CCO of Dentsu Creative NZ, had been acting as interim CCO before he and creative partner, Mike Felix, left the business at the beginning of this month.

Turner joins from creative growth company, Three Are One, that he co-founded with Celia Wallace and Brendan Collogan in October 2025.  He has also been national executive creative director at VML and The Royals, and group executive creative director at DDB in a two-decade career.

He has won Cannes Lions Grands Prix, D&AD Yellow and Black Pencils, a Spikes Asia Grand Prix, and multiple Effies including the Grand Effie. His standout work includes The Palau Pledge, The Riderless Bike and KitKat Break Chair, as well as awarded winning work for IKEA, RACQ and, most recently, SP Lager Icon of Change, that won Best in Show at BADC.

David Halter, chief practice officer, Dentsu Creative Australia, stated, “We’re fortunate to have a talented team, great clients and a strong creative foundation to build on. Our belief is simple: you can’t grow with the status quo. Stu shares that same belief. He’s an exceptional creative thinker, but just as importantly, someone who cares deeply about people, the work and making an impact for clients.

“I also loved his view that creativity shouldn’t be limited to a department or discipline. The best ideas can come from anywhere, and that’s the kind of creative culture we’re continuing to build. And on a personal note, as a father of three boys, I was particularly impressed to discover Stu has four! Anyone who’s still upright, let alone producing world-class work, deserves serious respect.”

Yasuharu Sasaki, global chief creative officer, Dentsu, added, “Stu’s work demonstrates the power of ideas to move people and change behaviour. He combines that creative instinct with a curiosity about how technology can help us do things we haven’t done before. I’m delighted to welcome him to our global creative community and excited to see what he and our Australian team create together.”

Turner commented, “Everyone I met at Dentsu Creative was focused on the same thing: challenging the status quo with innovative thinking. Not just talking about great ideas, but having the ambition and hunger to make them happen. There’s a fantastic team, great clients and some seriously exciting briefs across creative, experience and earned. And with media, technology, data and gaming all part of dentsu, there are very few barriers to where a great idea can go.”

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