The Royals has given its creative leadership another boost with the appointment of Stu Turner as executive creative director. Turner’s appointment follows a strong 12 months of new business wins for The Royals, including Athena Home Loans, Northern Territory Government, Spotify, Australian Super, Bakers Delight, Nearmap and Danone.

Turner has won more than 100 local and international Gold or higher awards at Cannes, D&AD, Clios, Spiked, Webby Awards, Effies and AWARD.

The ex-ECD at Havas Sydney helped to create and lead well-renowned campaigns such as The Palau Pledge, The Riderless Bike and The Bottom 100. His work on the Australian Defence Force account contributed to the agency’s winning the Grand Effie in 2018.

Turner is returning to Australia after a stint as ECD at VML in his hometown of Cape Town, South Africa. Prior to VML, he was Group ECD at DDB Melbourne.

The Royals creative partner, Nick Cummins, stated, “It’s an exciting time for The Royals as we continue to invest in first-class talent to support the needs and ambitions of our growing client base. Stu is a natural leader who is passionate about ideas that are both creative and effective – exactly what today’s marketing challenges require. I believe our clients will love working with him, because he’ll bring great creativity, intelligence and passion to bear on their business.”

Turner commented, “I am excited to return to Melbourne and especially The Royals, as I believe independent agencies have more fun and can operate in nimble ways that big networks often struggle with. Plus, The Royals are a great bunch of people with a distinctive agency culture, who want to make world-famous work. On a more personal note, I am thrilled to be settling back in Australia and raising my boys in this wonderful country.”