In the competitive arena of luxury brand experience, DARKHORSE has earned the trust of Veuve Clicquot — a champagne house whose name is itself a kind of philosophy about boldness and distinction. The agency's appointment to lead the Clicquot Sun Lodge experience across Australasia, paired with three senior hires spanning Sydney, Auckland, and Singapore, speaks to a broader shift in how prestige brands seek to be felt rather than merely seen. Across the Asia-Pacific, the question of who shapes those moments of encounter between brand and human is becoming as consequential as the brands themselv
DARKHORSE wins Veuve Clicquot account, appoints three senior creative leads
They feel like a genuine extension of our team
Mark
What makes Clicquot Sun Lodge the kind of account that matters in this space?
Mimi
It's one of the most prestigious luxury experiences in the region—the kind of thing that signals you understand how to build something that feels exclusive and refined. It's not just advertising; it's the actual experience people have with the brand.
Mark
And DARKHORSE won this in a competitive pitch. What does that tell you about where the agency stands?
Mimi
That they're trusted by major luxury brands to execute at the highest level. Jaguar Land Rover, Sephora, now Veuve Clicquot—these aren't brands that compromise on who they work with.
Mark
The three new hires all come from different backgrounds. Why does that matter?
Mimi
Because experiential work at this scale requires different kinds of expertise. Reed brings corporate event experience from Amazon and automotive work. Muir has telecom and QSR background. O'Leary has worked in the Middle East on cultural and lifestyle projects. Together, they bring a broader toolkit.
Mark
Is this just about growth, or is there something strategic happening?
Mimi
It's both. The growth is real—they're expanding across four countries. But the strategic piece is that they're building a team that can handle the complexity of what luxury brands actually need now: storytelling, scale, cultural sensitivity, and flawless execution.
Mark
What does this mean for the experiential marketing space in APAC?
Mimi
It suggests the market is consolidating around agencies that can deliver at premium scale. DARKHORSE is signaling they're the ones to watch.
Der Puls
- Premium brands are abandoning passive advertising in favour of immersive experiences, and the race to lead that shift across APAC is intensifying.
- DARKHORSE secured the Veuve Clicquot pitch against competitors, adding the champagne house to a roster that already includes Jaguar Land Rover and Sephora.
- Three senior directors — Maxine Reed, Olivia Muir, and Elizabeth O'Leary — have been recruited from Havas Red, Mango Communications, and Avantgarde MENA respectively, each bringing deep luxury and experiential credentials.
- The hires span three cities across two time zones, signalling a deliberate geographic expansion rather than a single market consolidation.
- DARKHORSE's founder frames the moment as confirmation of the agency's regional dominance, with growth momentum pointing toward larger and more complex brand experience mandates.
In the competitive arena of luxury brand experience, DARKHORSE has earned the trust of Veuve Clicquot — a champagne house whose name is itself a kind of philosophy about boldness and distinction. The agency's appointment to lead the Clicquot Sun Lodge experience across Australasia, paired with three senior hires spanning Sydney, Auckland, and Singapore, speaks to a broader shift in how prestige brands seek to be felt rather than merely seen. Across the Asia-Pacific, the question of who shapes those moments of encounter between brand and human is becoming as consequential as the brands themselves.
DARKHORSE, the brand experience agency with operations across Asia-Pacific, has won a competitive pitch to lead Clicquot Sun Lodge — Veuve Clicquot's flagship luxury experience in Australasia. The win places the champagne house alongside Jaguar Land Rover and Sephora on the agency's roster, reinforcing DARKHORSE's standing among brands that define their categories.
Veuve Clicquot's Brand Manager for Australia, Anna Hensen, praised the agency's creativity and attention to detail, describing the DARKHORSE team as a natural extension of her own — a rare endorsement that speaks to the depth of the partnership rather than its transactional surface.
The account win arrives alongside three senior appointments. Maxine Reed joins as Experiential Director in Sydney, carrying four years of leadership at Havas Red across clients including Lexus, Netflix, and L'Oreal, and five prior years at Amazon spanning advertising, AWS, and retail. In Auckland, Olivia Muir takes up the Experiential Director role, drawing on experience at Mango Communications with McDonald's and New Balance, as well as work on Spark's nationwide 5G rollout. Elizabeth O'Leary joins the Singapore office as Creative Director, arriving from Avantgarde MENA where she built large-scale brand experiences across automotive, cultural, and lifestyle sectors in the Middle East.
Founder and CEO Mike Hewitt described the convergence of the Veuve Clicquot win and the three appointments as cause for celebration, pointing to sustained regional growth and a team positioned to take on increasingly ambitious work. Together, these moves suggest DARKHORSE is not simply growing — it is consolidating a particular kind of authority in the space where luxury and lived experience meet.
DARKHORSE, a brand experience agency operating across the Asia-Pacific region, has won a competitive pitch to oversee Clicquot Sun Lodge, Veuve Clicquot's flagship luxury brand experience in Australasia. The appointment places the champagne house alongside other marquee clients on DARKHORSE's roster—Jaguar Land Rover and Sephora among them—a lineup that signals the agency's standing as a preferred partner for brands that define their categories.
Anna Hensen, Brand Manager for Veuve Clicquot Australia, described DARKHORSE as a collaborative partner with a genuine grasp of luxury's finer points. "Their creativity, attention to detail and deep appreciation of the Veuve Clicquot brand consistently result in elevated experiences and execution," she said, adding that the team feels like a natural extension of her own.
The win arrives alongside three significant senior appointments. Maxine Reed has joined as Experiential Director from Sydney, bringing four years at Havas Red where she led the Brand Experience team across a diverse client base: Lexus, Toyota, L'Oreal, Netflix, Tourism Tasmania, and AppleTV+. Before that, she spent five years at Amazon in events and marketing roles spanning Amazon Advertising, AWS, and Retail. Olivia Muir, now Experiential Director based in Auckland, comes from three years at Mango Communications (now FleishmanHillard), where she worked on McDonald's and New Balance. Her earlier experience includes sponsorship and brand experience work on the nationwide rollout of 5G for telecommunications company Spark.
Elizabeth O'Leary has joined the Singapore office as Creative Director. She previously worked across the Middle East developing large-scale brand experiences in automotive, cultural, and lifestyle sectors at Avantgarde MENA, where her focus was experiential storytelling and multidisciplinary creative collaboration.
These hires expand an already substantial team across the APAC region, which operates in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, and Dubai. Mike Hewitt, DARKHORSE's Founder and CEO, framed the moment as a marker of the agency's trajectory. "DARKHORSE has become the brand experience agency iconic brands continue to choose across APAC," he said. "Our new partnership with Veuve Clicquot, and the appointments of Maxine, Olivia and Elizabeth are all moments to celebrate. We've seen fantastic growth throughout the region and our team is set to continue the great work we've built a reputation on delivering."
The expansion reflects a broader shift in how premium brands approach customer engagement, moving beyond traditional advertising toward immersive, carefully curated experiences. For DARKHORSE, the Veuve Clicquot win and the addition of three experienced directors suggest the agency is positioning itself to handle increasingly complex, high-stakes projects across the region.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
DARKHORSE is a truly collaborative partner who understands the nuances of luxury. Their creativity, attention to detail and deep appreciation of the Veuve Clicquot brand consistently result in elevated experiences and execution.— Anna Hensen, Brand Manager, Veuve Clicquot Australia
DARKHORSE has become the brand experience agency iconic brands continue to choose across APAC. Our new partnership with Veuve Clicquot, and the appointments of Maxine, Olivia and Elizabeth are all moments to celebrate.— Mike Hewitt, Founder and CEO, DARKHORSE
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