Troy O'Brien

Troy O’Brien began his advertising career with Clemenger BBDO Adelaide. After graduating from AFA’s AdSchool in 1993, he took off to the United States in search of adventure, where he was recruited by Las Vegas agency R&R Partners, famous for its ‘What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas’ campaign.
 
In 1997, Troy moved to California and by 1999 graduated from the University of California’s Berkeley Graphic Design Program. Returning to Las Vegas in 2000, he joined The Merica Agency, where within five years he rose to owner/creative director. As Vice President / Creative Director of Robertson Wood O’Brien, he directed campaigns for Cox Communications, MGM Grand, Howard Hughes Corporation, House of Blues, Sky Las Vegas, Guinness and many others.
 
His ability to link strategic insights to meaningful creative communications has lead to numerous American creative and marketing awards, including the Telly Award, The Mark Award for advertising effectiveness, 12 American Institute of Graphic Arts Awards, and 50-plus American Advertising Federation ADDY Awards. His work has been published in Luerzer’s Archive magazine and Troy is one of the chosen few to win a prestigious Gold International ADDY Award.
 
In 2011, Troy returned to Australia and joined The Kingdom, and has since conceived and directed campaigns for many clients, including Rundle Place and Peter W. Beck. In 2012 he appeared on ‘The Pitch’ segment of Gruen Sweat selling AFL to the world as an Olympic sport.
 
In February of this year he formed Welbourn O'Brien (WO) with Josh Welbourn. WO is South Australia's biggest, most connected, small agency. Fuelled by experience and a desire to innovate through collaboration, WO's credentials extend across strategy, creative, media, production and digital to create powerful, provocative, business-driving strategies, ideas and experiences to connect brands with customers.