They jumped straight into a major pitch and helped us win it
In the creative industry's ongoing search for voices that can make ideas feel alive before a media budget arrives, Sydney's Emotive has added two practitioners — Art Director Max Moore and Copywriter Ashling Coffey — whose instincts for earned media and social-first thinking align with what the agency has quietly been building. Their arrival is less a story of recruitment than of recognition: the right people finding the right room at a moment when the agency's momentum is already in motion. That they contributed to a major pitch win within their first week suggests the fit was genuine, the kind that sustains rather than simply accelerates.
- Emotive's creative department was under pressure to keep pace with a rapidly expanding client roster spanning more than twenty brands, including recent wins like Google Pixel and Nespresso.
- A high volume of applicants made the search competitive, but the caliber of talent in the market gave leadership confidence that the right hires were findable — and they found them.
- Moore and Coffey walked in and immediately shaped work that helped win a major pitch, collapsing the usual grace period between arrival and contribution.
- The agency's earned-first philosophy — work that lives in social and PR spaces rather than waiting for paid media — now has two more practitioners fluent in exactly that language.
- With an average client tenure of 4.7 years and a culture that nicknames new hires within weeks, Emotive is signalling that growth here is meant to deepen, not just widen.
Emotive, the independent creative agency based in Sydney's Coogee, has welcomed Art Director Max Moore and Copywriter Ashling Coffey into its creative department. Both bring backgrounds in earned media and social-first thinking — precisely the instincts the agency prizes — and both made their presence felt almost immediately, contributing to a major pitch win within their first week on the floor.
They'll work under Head of Earned Creative Jessica Cluff and Chief Creative Officer Gavin McLeod, who described the hiring process with the quiet satisfaction of someone who found what they were actually looking for. The applications were plentiful, he noted, but what distinguished Moore and Coffey wasn't just their portfolios — it was their appetite to learn from people who'd been doing this longer. Cluff, for her part, has already given them a team nickname: "Smash" — the unofficial signal, she suggested, that you've been absorbed into the culture.
Both new hires spoke to what drew them in. Coffey had been watching Emotive's work for some time and was drawn by the depth of experience paired with a genuine willingness to pass it on. Moore pointed to the environment itself — leadership that creates space to push ideas without it feeling punitive, and even the physical details: the windows, the salt air, a workspace that seems to understand where ideas come from.
The hires arrive as Emotive continues to build steadily, adding clients like Google Pixel, El Jannah, and Nespresso to a roster that now exceeds twenty brands. Perhaps more telling than the growth itself is the agency's average client tenure of 4.7 years — a figure that, in an industry prone to churn, suggests the work is doing something that keeps people around. Moore and Coffey are joining not just an agency on the rise, but one that seems to know why it's rising.
Emotive, an independent creative agency tucked into Sydney's Coogee, has brought two new voices into its ranks. Max Moore joins as Art Director and Ashling Coffey as Copywriter, both arriving with track records in earned media and social-first thinking. Within their first four weeks—really, their first week—they've already shaped work that helped the agency win a major pitch, the kind of immediate impact that suggests the hiring was less a gamble than a recognition of something already there.
The pair were drawn to Emotive specifically for what the agency has built: a reputation for emotionally-driven ideas and earned-first creativity, the kind of work that lives on social channels and in PR conversations rather than waiting for a media buy to come alive. They'll work under Jessica Cluff, Head of Earned Creative, and Gavin McLeod, Chief Creative Officer, joining a department that's clearly expanding as the agency's momentum builds.
McLeod spoke to the hiring process with the kind of relief that comes when you find exactly what you were looking for. The volume of applications was high, he said, but what struck him was the caliber. There's real talent moving through the industry right now, and Moore and Coffey distinguished themselves not just by what they'd done but by their hunger to learn from people who'd done it longer. That they walked in the door and immediately contributed to winning work wasn't luck—it was the kind of fit that happens when you hire people who actually want to be where they are.
Cluff added a note of levity: the agency has already given them a nickname, "Smash," which she framed as the unofficial marker of belonging to a creative team. She described them as smart and hungry, obsessed with the texture of pop culture and, she said with a knowing tone, unhealthily attached to social media—precisely the instincts you need when your work lives in those spaces.
Coffey and Moore both spoke to what drew them in. Coffey noted that Emotive's work had been on their radar for a while, and joining felt significant because of the depth of experience paired with a genuine willingness to share it. Moore emphasized the environment itself: a place where new perspectives are nurtured, where the leadership—he named Simon, Gavin, and Jess—creates space to push and be pushed without it feeling punitive. He even noticed the windows, the salt air coming in, a small detail that suggests an agency that thinks about the physical space where ideas happen.
The timing of these hires reflects Emotive's larger trajectory. The agency has been winning new business steadily—Google Pixel, El Jannah, Nespresso among recent additions—and now works across more than twenty brands. What's notable is the client tenure: an average of 4.7 years, which in an industry where relationships often feel transactional, suggests the work is landing in a way that keeps people around. Moore and Coffey are joining an agency that's not just hiring for growth but hiring to deepen what it already does well.
Notable Quotes
The volume of applications was one thing, but the quality was another. There are some incredibly talented young creatives coming through.— Gavin McLeod, Chief Creative Officer
There is incredible depth of experience, matched by a genuine generosity in sharing it, plus an infectious excitement about what's next.— Ashling Coffey
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What made these two stand out from everyone else who applied?
McLeod said the sheer volume surprised them, but what really mattered was that the quality matched it. Moore and Coffey brought something specific: they weren't just technically skilled, they had this genuine appetite to learn from people who'd been doing this longer. And they proved it immediately by jumping into a pitch and helping win it.
That first-week win—was that unusual, or does Emotive expect that from new hires?
I think it signals something about how the agency operates. They don't hire people and then ease them in. There's an expectation that you'll contribute right away, but also a structure that makes that possible. Cluff and McLeod and the rest of the team are apparently generous with what they know.
Cluff called them "Smash" and mentioned an unhealthy relationship with social media. That sounds like she's saying they're exactly what earned-first creativity needs.
Exactly. In earned media, you're not waiting for a media budget to make work matter. You're thinking about what will actually move on social, what people will talk about. That obsession with how culture moves through those channels—that's not a flaw in this context, it's the whole point.
Moore mentioned the windows and the salt air. That's an odd detail to highlight in a hiring announcement.
It is, but it tells you something about what he noticed when he walked in. He wasn't just evaluating the job or the people. He was sensing the place itself—whether it felt like somewhere you could actually think and create. That he mentioned it suggests Emotive has built something that feels different from the typical agency.
The client tenure is 4.7 years on average. In advertising, that's remarkable.
It is. Most agencies churn clients constantly. That number suggests the work is actually solving problems for people, or at least that the relationships are built on something deeper than just the contract. When you're hiring into that kind of stability, you're not just joining an agency—you're joining something that's proven it can sustain itself.