Jeff Malone appointed as chief strategy officer at Cummins & Partners

Jeff Malone has been appointed as chief strategy officer at Cummins & Partners, effective immediately.

Malone joins the agency following a stint in creative strategy client-side at global beverage company Lion.

He is previous agency roles include DDB in Sydney as planning director, Mullen Lowe US as VP and group strategy director, executive planning partner at TBWA Australia.

Malone also had a stint at Ogilvy in New York as a senior strategic planner and at the company's branch in India as a senior global planning director.

The US-born anthropologist initially arrived in Australia to do a major thesis on Australian Culture.

Chief creative officer Sean Cummins said: "This is the first senior hire I’ve personally done in the agency for a decade. I was blessed to have partners with me for a 10 years and now I had a chance to choose people I feel understand where the ‘new advertising’ is going."

He added: "When my interview conversation with Malone changed from where he worked to the sociological theories of Durkheim and Jung. I thought I could impress him with my fancy education.

"But he was just so grounded he indulged me and then proceeded to show his breathtaking common-sense and grasp on consumer behaviour and the role brands need to play in their lives. With Malone and the strategy team he is assembling we have more piercing insights to work with creatively than ever before," he added

Malone commented on his new role: "As someone who has admired Cummins & Partners for years, I jumped at the chance to be a part of such a great agency and to help shape the offering and culture as the shop kicks off its second decade.

"Bullshit aside this is a great group of people eager to shake things up. And it’s exciting," he added.

Malone's appoint is the first in a number of soon-to-be announced senior appointments at Cummins & Partners.