Bec McCall departed her Group Creative Director seat at HERO to open We Were Here, an independent studio targeting Australian luxury and hospitality clients. The launch follows a multi-agency run that included stints at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, Saatchi & Saatchi, and The Monkeys, where McCall built a portfolio spanning tourism boards, hotel groups, and premium consumer brands.

The timing is deliberate. Australian luxury hospitality spend climbed AU$47 billion in the twelve months through March 2024, according to Tourism Research Australia data, with single-property boutique hotels and experiential lodges pulling allocations from traditional resort chains. McCall's studio enters as independents capture 23 percent of Australian creative-services spend, up from 16 percent in 2020, per Standard Media Index tracking. HERO, part of the Dentsu network, retains its automotive and FMCG roster but loses McCall's luxury-sector relationships.

We Were Here positions as a specialist rather than generalist shop. The studio targets clients where brand narrative intersects with place-making—heritage hotels repositioning for next-generation travelers, state tourism bodies needing sub-regional campaign architecture, hospitality developers requiring pre-launch brand systems. McCall's prior work includes campaigns for Tourism Australia and boutique accommodation groups, relationships that typically migrate with senior creatives during agency exits. The model mirrors moves by former Ogilvy Australia ECD Ant Keogh, who launched Thinkerbell in 2017 and captured AU$32 million in billings within three years by focusing on food, travel, and retail verticals.

For family-office principals evaluating hospitality investments, McCall's departure signals two operational realities. First, luxury-sector creative talent increasingly rejects holding-company infrastructure in favor of direct client relationships and equity participation models. Second, Australian tourism marketing is fragmenting by micro-region and property type, requiring specialized narrativeecraft rather than broadcast media buying. Development projects launching between now and 2027—the Tasmanian whiskey-trail lodges, the Western Australia coastal conversions, the Queensland hinterland wellness properties—will need brand architecture that justifies AU$1,200-plus average daily rates. Large agencies staff those projects with junior teams under remote supervision. Independents like We Were Here put fifteen-year veterans in every client meeting.

The studio's first six months will determine its operating model. Watch for: initial client announcements by Q2 2025, revealing whether McCall secured pre-launch commitments from HERO relationships or cold-started the roster; hiring of a second senior creative or strategist, indicating scale ambitions beyond boutique consulting; and participation in Australian tourism-board roster pitches scheduled for mid-2025, where independent agencies typically underbid networks by 18-22 percent on retainer fees.

McCall's studio carries no venture backing and no private-equity timeline. The operational freedom matters more than the day-one revenue.