Mike Hughes and Dal Almeida have re-joined AMV BBDO as creative directors. After two-plus years at Clemenger BBDO, in Australia, as sr. art director and copywriter, respectively, they return to the U.K. and the agency where they created the much-lauded Trash Isles campaign.
The creative duo originally started at AMV in February 2012, staying for seven years creating notable work for brands including Snickers, BT, The National Lottery, and Virgin Holidays. One of their most awarded projects was Trash Isles, launched to recognize the vast collection of plastic waste covering an area equivalent to the size of France floating in the Pacific as an independent country with its own flag, currency, stamps and passports. The work helped force world leaders to address the scale of plastic trash in our oceans, and on World Oceans Day, an application was submitted to The United Nations to recognize The Trash Isles as an official country whereby other countries were then obliged to help clean it up.
As well as winning the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions in 2018, the campaign won the U.K.’s first-ever Green Pencil at The One Show with Hughes and Almeida invited to speak at TED about the plight of plastic pollution.
Their past two years at Clemenger BBDO have seen success with Cannes Lions for The VB Solar Exchange, the world’s first energy program that allows the public to exchange their solar energy for beer. They also successfully launched a new brand platform for Pure Blonde Organic Lager, recognized at numerous shows, and tutored at the AWARD School, Asia Pacific‘s leading creative course.
Newly promoted chief creative officers at AMV BBDO, Nadja Lossgott and Nicholas Hulley shared jointly, “Mike and Dal are not only world class creative talent but also world class at being nice and fun. We are delighted to welcome them back and we can’t wait to see them spreading their magic around.”
A joint statement from Hughes and Almeida read, “BBDO’s mantra is ‘the work, the work, the work,’ which you could argue is what creatives should base their decision on. But the reason we came back is ‘the people, the people, the people.’ AMV is full of genuine, caring, and creative folk that you want to spend time with.”
