Major coup for Thinkerbell as it lands renowned creative Jerker Fagerström to head Sydney office
Publicis Groupe Nordic chief creative officer, Jerker Fagerström has joined independent agency Thinkerbell, and will take on the newly created role of managing partner of its Sydney office, Mumbrella can reveal.
Returning to Australia in January 2023, Fagerström will head up Thinkerbell as part of a restructure hinted by the agency alongside news of Katie Dally’s departure last week.
The Swedish creative leader joins Thinkerbell with two decades of agency experience across Europe and Sydney, having most recently spent the past three years in Sweden, working in a pan-European role as chief creative officer of Publicis Groupe Nordic and Le Pont.
Previously, Fagerström spent five years in Sydney, having left his role as managing partner of DDB Stockholm in 2014 to take up a position as executive creative director and partner at DT, now known at AKQA. In 2016, he moved across to McCann Sydney, holding the role of executive creative director up until his return to Sweden in late 2019.
The appointment is a huge win for the independent agency, which has been rapidly expanding its Sydney presence, which now boasts a team of 50 strong after moving into a new Redfern office in August.
Thinkerbell CEO, Margie Reid said of the appointment: “Jerker is a world class creative leader, is highly creatively driven, and he’ll help us to deliver even more measured magic and drive Thinkerbell Sydney to even greater heights”.
Fagerström said: “Once we decided to move back to Sydney I sat down and wrote myself a wishlist: an agency with big ambition, breadth and depth of talent, and a culture of having fun together. I knew Adam from way back to our Saatchi days but after having spent time with Margie, Jim, Cuz and team it was obvious that Thinkerbell ticked everything on that list. I absolutely love their Thinker Tinker model and their incredibly broad range of what’s possible.”
Adam Ferrier, chief thinker added: “Jerker’s the best, a wonderful chap and bloody strong leader – he’ll be a brilliant Managing Partner for our North offering.”
Fagerström’s appointment is effective from January 2023.
