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Top Hires of the Week

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DDB New York

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DDB New York has dramatically expanded its strategy department with five new hires: Director of Content Strategy Tim Polder, Director of Social Strategy Chiara Martini, Associate Planning Director Neil Simpson, Social Strategist Amanda Moreno and Group Strategy Director Claudia Steer. All of the new hires will report to DDB New York Chief Strategy Officer Stuart Hazlewood. Polder arrives at DDB from Cheil Worldwide in London, where he served as a digital strategist since November of 2013. Prior to that, he held a similar role for Saatchi & Saatchi in Amsterdam while serving a similar function at Badabiem Badaboem, the creative consultancy he founded in 2010. As director of social strategy, Martini will be responsible for social and content strategy for key accounts including Clean&Clear, Neutrogena, Aveeno, Huawei, Cotton, Qualcomm and State Farm. She arrives at DDB New York from Heineken Brazil in São Paulo, where she has served as digital manager since April of 2011.  

“We all know that everything starts with great talent so it is awesome to welcome such a brilliant group of people into the agency” DDB NY Chief Strategy Officer Stuart Hazlewood

Simpson joins the agency from DDB Remedy London, where has served as a planner since November of 2014. Prior to joining DDB, he spent three years at London-based full-service communications and public relations firm Freud Communications. Moreno will be tasked with working closely with the strategy team to manage campaigns, develop social content, and communicate with clients to execute social and content tactics for brands including Neutrogena, Aveeno and Clean and Clear. She arrives at the agency following a little over a year as a freelance content strategist and writer. Finally, Steer joins the agency from Leo Burnett Chicago, where she led strategy for McDonald’s US brand initiatives, while also working on Sprint and pro-bono client the Greater Chicago Food Depository. During her three and a half years with the agency she also championed diversity initiatives such as No.2.66 and Blank Canvas.

Grey London

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Grey London has hired Alan Aboud, one of the best known creative directors in fashion and beauty, to run its Fragrances brands: Hugo Boss, Lacoste, James Bond, Bruno Banani and Mexx. He joins the fragrances team (led by managing partner Sam Southey) and adds the highest fashion and beauty credentials to the agency’s scale and ability to create growth for brands by impacting culture. As co-founder of creative studio ABOUD+ABOUD, the Dubliner had an uninterrupted relationship with designer Paul Smith for over 25 years, which gave him a control over the look and feel of the brand that is unique in the fashion world.

“A natural collaborator and a great cultural fit, with Alan on board Grey London is a true destination for any ambitious luxury or fashion brand looking to make a mark in culture” Nils Leonard, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer at Grey London

Famously, Aboud was responsible for both the Paul Smith visual stripe identity, spanning marketing and products, and outstanding campaigns like last year’s “A Suit to Travel In.” This idea brought to life the suit’s ability to stay pristine and sharp, through print, events and an intense black and white film featuring suited professional gymnasts in perpetual motion. Like many at Grey London, Alan will continue to run his own personal projects for clients in different categories through his studio. This includes work with the film industry, most notably in collaboration with Gary Oldman, a creative consultant on his latest directing project. The project in question is a film about the life of the father of motion picture, British photographer Eadweard Muybridge, and it’s a reliably ambitious piece of work that mixes graphic design, typography and historical research.

AllofUs

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AllofUs, the interactive design and user-experience agency, has hired Capital One’s former Head of Design, Heather Eddy as User Experience Director. Her appointment coincides with a re-engineering of AllofUs to focus outright on business transformation through digital and service design. Eddy has experience at client companies including Fidelity Investments, Gilt Taste and Scholastic Book Clubs as well as agency side, including Isobar New Year. Eddy, who Eddy has over 15 years’ worth of experience as a design leader and has worked on global brands including adidas, Philips and Renault, joins the AllofUs management team and is also becoming an equity partner. She will report to Nick Cristea, a co-founder of Allofus and experience design director.

“It was an immediate meeting of minds. We loved the way Heather thinks about the world and the role design can play in solving big questions” Nick Cristea, Experience Design Director at AllofUs

Zambezi

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Los Angeles-based agency Zambezi has added two new staffers to its growing team: Ryan Richards joins from BBDO in the newly created role of Group Strategy Director, reporting to Chief Strategy Officer Kristina Jenkins. Additionally, Gordon Gray, most recently with David&Goliath, joins Zambezi as an Account Director, with a primary focus on the agency’s TaylorMade business. Gray reports to Pete Brown, Managing Director. The appointments follow a recent relocation for Zambezi. After 10 years in Venice as one of the first ad agencies in the area known as ‘Silicon Beach,’ Zambezi has moved its offices to Culver City.

“Zambezi is a place where the best talent can thrive and work on brands they’re excited about. Bringing on big guns like Ryan and Gordon will help us stretch even further. We welcome them to the team” Chris Raih, founder & CEO of Zambezi

Richards joins Zambezi from the New York office of BBDO where he was Vice President, Brand Strategy Director on AT&T and HBO. At Zambezi, he will lead strategic development across clients including Cox Automotive’s Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book brands. Additionally, he will support the agency’s new business efforts and oversee various innovation projects. Gray, meanwhile, was most recently the account director on the Kia national advertising account at David&Goliath - including leading Kia’s Super Bowl effort for Optima. From 2013 until 2015, he was a brand director at 72andSunny, working on the Tillamook, Target, Busch Beer and Natural Light accounts.

MPC Creative

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MPC Creative has added some heavyweight creative and production talent to its New York office. Joining the studio are Director/Creative Director Alan Bibby and Executive Producer Dan Sormani. Their hires were announced by MPC New York Managing Director Justin Brukman. Bibby joins from the New York office of Logan, while Sormani was Head of Production at the New York office of Goodby Silverstein & Partners. Prior to that he was also at Logan, where he partnered with Bibby on numerous projects for major ad agencies.

“We’re doing some amazing things here, and having the chance to reunite Alan and Dan is a terrific development for MPC Creative” MPC New York Managing Director Justin Brukman

A designer and director with an eye for creating cinematic visuals and a flair for meshing them seamlessly with VFX, Bibby has created memorable ads for Google, Mercedes-Benz, Castrol, Honda, Budweiser and many other brands. His music videos, short films and experiential projects have won wide acclaim, with “Princess of China,” featuring Rihanna and Coldplay, being nominated for a MTV Music Video Award. Sormani, meanwhile, is an exceptionally well-recognized producer with ad agency experience and extensive credits in integrating VFX and live action. In addition to his stint at Logan, he’s held executive producer positions with Brand New School, Lifelong Friendship Society and Stardust, launching the latter’s New York office.

Organic

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Omnicom-owned digital agency Organic has brought in Kingsley Taylor to serve in the newly created role of managing director-San Francisco.  Taylor joins from MRY’s San Francisco office, where he also served as managing director. At MRY, Taylor oversaw the agency’s rapid west coast growth and helped secure a diverse roster of clients including Charles Schwab, Credit Karma, Del Monte Foods and T-Mobile. The agency has also promoted Jim Napolitano to managing director of its Detroit office. Napolitano has spent more than ten years at Organic, most recently serving as vice president of client services. Organic has offices in New York, Detroit, San Francisco and Atlanta. It works with clients including Kimberly-Clark, AT&T and Wells Fargo.

“Organic is a founding member of the digital agency community. I jumped at the opportunity to help write the next chapter in Organic’s story in this key market” Kingsley Taylor

TBWA

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TBWA has announced Neil Dawson as Executive Global Creative Director for Nissan United, a dedicated unit of Omnicom Group that leads the Nissan account globally. The appointment marks Neil's return to TBWA, where he was formerly Creative Director in the London office from 2003 to 2005. In his new role, Neil will be responsible for all global Nissan creative and content from both Omnicom and non-Omnicom agencies, helping to further drive the global creative vision for the Nissan brand. He will report to Nissan United President Jon Castle and TBWA Global Creative President Chris Garbutt, and will be based in TBWA's New York headquarters. Neil led the global Philips Electronics account for DDB. Under his stewardship, the agency won a pride of Cannes Lions including back-to-back Cannes Grands Prix in 2009 and 2010. Most recently, he was responsible for the global re-launch of Bacardi Rum.

“Neil has a history of disrupting the category with his creative product, and he's not afraid to shake things up in order to produce the kind of iconic work that reinvents the status quo” Chris Garbutt, TBWA Global Creative President

Sid Lee

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Global agency Sid Lee has hired Eric Schmidt and Felipe Ferreira as creative directors. The duo, who have joined from R/GA, will work out of the agency’s New York office and will report to co-executive creative directors Dan Chandler and Dan Brooks. According to Sid Lee, Schmidt and Ferreira were both highly involved with the Samsung account while at R/GA, helping the agency win several awards at Cannes. Sid Lee’s clients in New York include Apple, Facebook and Stella Artois.

“I can’t wait to get stuck into this exciting new challenge with Sid Lee. The type of clients that they have and the briefs that are coming through the door, are pretty incredible” Eric Schmidt

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