Alistair Wilson appointed Managing Director, Australia

We’re pleased to announce the promotion of Alistair Wilson, Managing Director Melbourne to Managing Director Australia, overseeing the Sydney and Melbourne studios.

In his new capacity, Alistair will drive growth initiatives for Australia, focusing on delivering strategically valuable, transformative creative events for their leading clients, including ANZ, AWS, Commonwealth Bank, Macquarie Bank, Telstra and Workday. Additionally, he will spearhead efforts to expand our client portfolio across the core offers, Consulting, Destinations, Content, and Live Experiences.

Alistair Wilson brings over 25 years of dedicated service to Imagination, having held leadership roles across multiple global locations, including the UK, Hong Kong, China, Australia, and most recently the U.S. Alistair supported the establishment of Imagination Australia in 2006 and joined the Australian leadership team on the ground in 2010, playing a pivotal role in securing early major client wins, including Sydney’s New Year’s Eve Event, Ford Motor Company and Shell and worked on milestone projects like the Royal Australian Navy’s Fleet Review in Sydney Habour.

In 2015, Alistair took up the Managing Director role in Shanghai and worked on groundbreaking work for clients such as the Jaguar F-Pace ‘Loop the Loop’ brand experience and launching the Lincoln brand in China. In 2018 he relocated to the US as Managing Director of Imagination Detroit. There he also served as the Global Client Lead for our largest global account, Ford Motor Company, and was part of the Ford global communications leadership team responsible for accelerating the brand’s transformation in a new era of connected and electric vehicles.

Alistair succeeds Antony Gowthorp as Managing Director who after almost 12 years, has elected to seek new opportunities outside Imagination. During Antony's tenure, he accelerated the studio’s growth and delivered a series of renowned high-profile public large-scale events, including Sydney New Year's Eve, The Royal Australian Navy Fleet Review and the Spirit of ANZAC Experience, as well as building key long-term client relationships including Telstra and AWS.

Patrick Reid, CEO, said “I extend our gratitude to Antony for his support and dedication driving our Australia offering and wish him the very best for the future. With Alistair’s unmatched global and Australian experience and our exceptionally talented teams in Sydney and Melbourne, we look forward to an exciting new era in delivering world-class creative solutions and experiences for our clients.”

Alistair Wilson, Managing Director Australia, said “It is time to write the next chapter of Imagination Australia’s story and I am excited to lead our passionate and exceptionally talented team of Imagineers moving forward. Every day our focus will be living up to our name by creating transformative, strategically valuable work for our clients that accelerate the future success of their businesses.”