What you need to know:

• Innocean Australia has appointed Gual Barwell as its Chief Strategy Officer.
• The appointment is effective immediately.

Innocean Australia has named Gual Barwell as its new Chief Strategy Officer.

Barwell, who has more than 17 years’ experience and who recently returned to Australia after five years in the US, will head up the strategic discipline at Innocean, adding oversight to business, creative, communications, digital and social strategy.

He was SVP – Group Planning Director at DDB Chicago and Global Strategy Director at JWT New York during his time in the US. For the past two years, he has worked as a freelance brand strategist.

Jasmin Bedir, Innocean CEO, said: “Executive Creative Director Wez Hawes and I needed someone with diverse experience who could lead the strategy function across the entire agency, including CX and digital.” Barwell has those skills, she added.

He has worked on strategy for brands like Nestle, Listerine, Audi, Gruppo Campari and Diageo. His role begins immediately.