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Top 10 Hires of the Week

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McCann New York

McCann New York announced this week that Caprice Yu and Grant Smith have joined the agency as Executive Creative Directors. “We are truly excited to welcome Grant and Caprice,” said Eric Silver, CCO of McCann North America. “They both have an amazing history of answering creative briefs in thoughtful and provocative ways.”

Caprice Yu and Grant Smith and Caprice Yu have joined McCann New York as Executive Creative Directors

Yu most recently worked as a freelancer at McCann NY after leaving her ECD post at Sid Lee. Yu has worked at many of the industry’s top agencies, including BBH New York, Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Boulder, and 180 Amsterdam and created work for Google, adidas, Axe and Microsoft. Smith is an award-winning creative director, who spent much of last 10 years at BBDO NY, where he created high profile work for AT&T, FedEx, Guinness, and DirectTV. Smith has worked at a number of agencies, including a long stint at Cliff Freeman & Partners, where he worked on Fox Sports, Budget Rentals and Mike’s Hard Lemonade.

Saatchi LA

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After an exhaustive search, Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles has named Lalita Koehler as Executive Director of Integrated Production. This marks the third high-profile talent acquisition for Saatchi LA in the last 11 months, following the hiring of Chief Creative Officer Jason Schragger in June of 2014 and Executive Director of Talent, Kirk Guthrie, just three months later. Koehler, a native of Brazil, brings more than 15 years of experience in helping stories come to life to Saatchi LA. Prior to working in advertising, she spent half a decade at Yahoo!, where she produced and launched many top products. Most recently, she served as Executive Producer at Omelet, producing work for AT&T, Microsoft, Square Enix and Ubisoft.

Saatchi & Saatchi LA has named Lalita Koehler as Executive Director of Integrated Production

In a statement released by the agency, they said: “We are very excited to welcome Lalita to the Saatchi LA family. She brings a breadth of experience across a spectrum of channels. Her role is critical as the need to develop content for ideas that are uniquely relevant to both the channel and its audience is rapidly expanding. Lalita will be a key player in shaping the future of our offering.” Koehler herself added: “I am really excited to join Saatchi LA. I look forward to working with a great team and a great client.”

KONTENTED

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Australian content-lead creative services and strategy agency, KONTENTED, has announced two key staff appointments, with Adam Noakes joining the company as head of client services and Jessica Doyle joining the business as client service manager. 

Noakes takes up the newly created role of Head of Client Services and was most recently principal director and owner at marketing and advertising consultancy William Hast, servicing clients such as Just Cuts and Toyota. Also joining the KONTENTED team is Doyle, who joins the company from Fairfax Media.

KONTENTED, has announced two key staff appointments

On joining the Sydney-based agency, Noakes said, “Joining the team at KONTENTED was a no-brainer for me. It allows William Hast’s clients to utilise a full service creative offering, whilst maintaining a focused digital push.”

 Doyle added: “I’m incredibly excited to be joining a team who are challenging the industry's agency model. It's great to come onboard at KONTENTED to work with some amazing clients and really groundbreaking projects for 2015 and beyond.” Speaking on these two major hires, agency founder Kate Edwards, said: “Adam brings with him a wealth of experience, digital aptitude and ability that is second to none and Jess has a record for flawless client delivery and has a track record that speaks volumes of her can-do attitude. Both appointments are a founder’s dream come true. And this is just the beginning.”

 

BBDO and Proximity Thailand

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BBDO and Proximity Thailand develops its creative team by promoting Anuwat Nitipanont and Chalit Manuyakorn as joint executive creative directors, effective immediately. 

Nitipanont and Manuyakorn have been award-winning creative directors at the agency for years and will now take on expanded management responsibilities for the creative department. 

More than a decade of experience in advertising, design, direct marketing and digital led to Nitipanont’s specialisation in innovative creative work. He has won two Silver Cannes Lions for Mobile in consecutive years, being the first creative from Thailand to win in this category. 
Manuyakorn has the best combination of business strategy, insight and creativity. His work has won at award shows including Cannes, Clio, One show, Spikes, and recently at AdFest where his celebrated campaign “Blind Taste” won five trophies, making BBDO and Proximity Thailand the most awarded Thai Agency at the show.


BBDO and Proximity Thailand has promoted Anuwat Nitipanont and Chalit Manuyakorn as joint executive creative directors

Both will report directly to Suthisak Sucharittanonta, chairman and chief creative officer, and Somkiat Larptanunchaiwong, chief executive officer. Larptanunchaiwong said: “We have strong commitment to excellent creative solutions for all our clients. Anuwat and Chalit have superb credentials. They will lead the way in delivering the new business successes for our client partners.” Whilst Sucharittanonta added: 

“We are determined to produce New World Creative Solutions to drive the agency and the industry forward. Together Anuwat and Chalit will propel BBDO and Proximity Thailand to the next level of success.” Commenting on his new role, Nitipanont said: “New World Creative offers endless possibilities to how clients’ problems can be solved through innovative solutions, free from any limitations of media. It is an exciting time to strive for great work and great results for our clients.” Manuyakorn 

added: “Along with our vision of New World Creative, our work has expanded beyond TV commercials to anything that solves the clients’ problems, generating great business results. I really enjoy the process of exploration.”



 

Starcom MediaVest Group

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Starcom MediaVest Group has promoted Scott Curtis to the newly created role of European mobile strategy and development director. He served as mobile development director for the UK for the last year and a half, and prior to that was global associate director. In his new role Curtis will drive the strategy for the mobile division of the agency across key European markets, with the view to establishing SMG as a centre of excellence for mobile in Europe. He will be responsible for identifying new mobile opportunities and building partnerships with media, technology and data vendors in the UK and Europe, and his role will also include developing and training the mobile teams across the SMG network, collaborating across departments to develop new products.

Starcom MediaVest Group has promoted Scott Curtis to the newly created role of European mobile strategy and development director

Curtis will report to SMG president for EMEA Iain Jacob, who said: “Scott is an invaluable member of the team and has shown an entrepreneurial spirit from the onset. He brings extensive experience and leadership from the UK and his vision, knowledge and understanding of mobile will contribute significantly as we scale and grow our capabilities across Europe ensuring we are at the forefront of delivering the very best mobile solutions for our clients. We welcome Scott into his new role and this next step for the agency.”

 

Publicis London

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Publicis London has hired adam&eveDDB planning partner Darren Savage as joint head of strategy, in an effort to bolster its strategic team. Savage will work with Kari Freeburn in the role, and is the first senior strategic hire in London since the appointment of Dylan Williams as global chief strategy and innovation officer last year. Prior to adam&eveDDB, Savage co-founded and ran innovation business Studio Ex Nihilo alongside VCCP, with the aim of helping brands including Sony and Telefonica/O2 adapt to technological change.

Publicis London has hired adam&eveDDB planning partner Darren Savage as joint head of strategy

Williams commented on the appointment: “As London looks to fully round its integrated offering, it needs full stack strategists like Darren to lead the way. There aren’t many in business with his track record and I’ve every confidence that alongside Kari he’ll make that experience count.” Before co-founding Studio Ex Nihilo, Savage served as executive planning director at R/GA where he helped set up and run the London office.

 

Havas Lynx

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Havas Lynx has announced that Tom Richards will be taking charge of the agency group’s creative output in his new role as Chief Creative Officer. Working with current Creative Directors Helen Godley and Jon Chapman, Richards will bring with him a wealth of experience from his time at BJL (Creative Director), TBWA Manchester (Creative Partner) and Cheetham Bell JXT (Group Head). Richards will oversee a team of 35 creatives and be part of the Havas Lynx Senior Leadership Team driving the strategic direction of the business.

Havas Lynx has appointed Tom Richards as Chief Creative Officer

Discussing his motivations for joining Havas Lynx, Richards said: “Ever since I first met with David Hunt, I’ve been really enthused by the sound of the work produced at Havas Lynx. To be able to deliver outstanding creative work is one thing, but to have the opportunity to improve peoples’ lives and wellbeing by doing so is truly inspiring. That’s what moved me to join, and I’m really looking forward to getting underway.” David Hunt, CEO of the Havas Lynx Group, added: “Time and time again, we have proven that healthcare is just as exciting, creative and innovative as the B2C world. Tom’s appointment is testament to our ambition to continue to lead the way in healthcare; he will support our talented, award-winning team and further drive ideas and innovation across all our campaigns. We’re delighted to have him onboard.”

 

HeyHuman

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Creative agency HeyHuman is set to be led by a partnership team of its senior management executives after owner Hutton Collins decided to axe its group operation and let its agencies run themselves. HeyHuman’s client and strategy director Neil Davidson, business development director Helen Weisinger, creative director Shnoosee Bailey and finance and operations director Tim Morrow, will take on managing partner roles as part of the shuffle. HeyHuman’s client services director Liz Richardson also moves over to sister agency Closer as its managing partner. There will be no impact on the final part of the Hutton Collins creative agency Brave, which will continue to be run by managing partner Ash Bendelow, though he will be looking to expand its creative and planning offering. Along with HeyHuman’s management team, Brave and Closer will also report to the shareholder board chaired by non-executive chairman Rupert Howell.

HeyHuman is set to be led by a partnership team of its senior management executives

The structural shift stems from private equity company Hutton Collins’ decision to let its agencies stand on their own two feet. The group operation helped the three agencies establish themselves in a crowded market after they were acquired in 2012 and now they are ready to shape their own strategies. To that end, group chief executive Simon Marshall, executive creative director Bo Hellberg and HeyHuman’s managing director Alex Young are all leaving the business. Hugo Varney, partner at Hutton Collins, said: “The group operation championed the three agencies at a time of business transition. All three agencies have been re-purposed and reimagined for the 21st century. Simon and Bo were brought in as CEO and ECD to shepherd this process through. They’ve done a fantastic job. Now that has been achieved, it’s time to launch Hey Human, Brave and Closer as stand-alone forces.”

 

DigitasLBi

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DigitasLBi announced this week that Matthew Jacobson has been promoted to EVP/Global Executive Design Director. In this newly created role, Jacobson will collaborate on key client and new-business initiatives across DigitasLBi offices in 25 countries. Jacobson will continue to be based in Chicago, reporting to Ronald Ng, Chief Creative Officer for North America. Beginning this summer in China, he will also be working in-residence at various global offices to help grow local and national design capabilities. In his previous role as SVP/Group Director, he lead design for North American offices, after founding DigitasLBi’s world-class design, branding, and illustration studio out of the Chicago office.

DigitasLBi announced this week that Matthew Jacobson has been promoted to EVP/Global Executive Design Director

“Matthew is a rock star in the design world, and now’s the perfect time for him to spread his wings across our growing global creative footprint,” said Ng. “His unique understanding of what makes people tick delivers a competitive edge for our clients.” Chris Clarke, International Chief Creative Officer at DigitasLBi, added: “Matt is a stellar talent who has done so much great work for us. I'm delighted to have him working across our international offices.”

 

Geometry Global London

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Geometry Global London has announced the appointment of Andrew Bell as Managing Partner and Client Services Director. Reporting to CEO Sarah Todd, Andrew joins from Cheil UK where he was formerly Managing Partner and Client Services Director. Andrew’s brief is to build ever stronger trusted partnerships with Geometry’s clients and to continue to help them maximise business conversion through Pivotal Ideas: behaviour-changing creative solutions that drive action. In a nutshell, inspiring people to do things. At Cheil, Andrew led the integrated Samsung account, overseeing development and delivery of strategy, creative and production across store design and build, sponsorship, experiential, OOH planning and buying, digital and social, as well as traditional advertising.

Geometry Global London has announced the appointment of Andrew Bell as Managing Partner and Client Services Director

Geometry Global London CEO Sarah Todd, said: “Our ambition is to change behaviour and inspire people to choose our clients’ brands. Over the past 18 months we’ve built solid tools, ways of working, and, launched Geometry Intelligence – our strategic consultancy. It’s now perfect timing to benefit from Andrew’s impeccable track-record of delivering creative solutions that build business value. I’m really pleased welcome him to our team to further our ambition to develop behaviour-changing creative work.” Bell added: “Geometry is one of the most interesting agencies out there, and run by people I really want to work with. Brands need a game changer to win and Geometry’s ability to focus on consumer behaviour and apply powerful creativity at moments of influence is giving brands just that. Geometry has the talent, potential and ambition to seriously transform the landscape for clients and our industry and I'm excited to be part of that journey.”

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