VML
VML has announced the promotion of Chris Wood to Executive Director of Europe, and Amanda Farmer to Managing Director of London, as the agency expands its global operations. Wood, has led VML's London office for the past five years in his role as Managing Director, overseeing accounts such as Premier League, Whitbread, Xbox, Bridgestone and Virgin Active as the agency has expanded and produced award-winning campaigns. In his new role, he will lead engagements with VML’s global clients in Europe. Farmer has been promoted to become VML London's new Managing Director, responsible for furthering the agency's unique balance between creativity and technology which helps brands thrive in a digital world. She will also sit on the VML Global Leadership Team as part of her new role. Farmer was previously the agency's Client Services Director where she ran the Virgin Active and Xbox accounts. Prior to joining the agency, Amanda held the position of Business Director at Isobar. Wood and Farmer will both report to the agency's Global CEO Jon Cook, and will sit on the VML Global Leadership Team as part of her new role.
“As VML began to deepen our global presence six years ago, VML London was then (and remains) one of those bedrock offices at the heart of everything VML” Jon Cook, Global CEO at VML
McCann Health
McCann Health has announced the promotion of Charlie Buckwell to President of the EMEA region. Buckwell succeeds Michel Nakache, who is promoted to the newly created role of Global Clients Unit President. Buckwell will continue to oversee McCann Complete Medical. In addition, Simon Holt is appointed to the newly created position of Chief Business Strategy Officer. Holt, who joins the company from Novartis International, where he was Global Head Public Policy, will also assume leadership of McCann Health's Double Helix Consulting & Double Helix Discovery units, succeeding Charlie Buckwell. Buckwell and Nakache will continue to be based in the UK and France respectively. Holt will be based in UK and supported in his new role by Suzie Denton, Global Head of Double Helix Consulting and Fabrice Allum, Managing Director, Double Helix Discovery.
“With Charlie's more than two decades of biopharmaceutical marketing and communication experience, he is well-positioned to further our growth and geographic reach in EMEA and help us to integrate MCM capabilities on a global scale” McCann Health Global CEO, John Cahill
Havas China
Havas has announced the appointment of industry heavyweight Donald Chan as CEO of its creative agency brand; Havas Creative Group China. He joins the agency from Leo Burnett China, where he also served as CEO. In his new role, Chan will spearhead Havas’ creative offering, which has a strong presence in the market with a special focus on Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Besides leading the China creative operations, he will also be focusing on acquiring talent, building on the existing client base and driving new business. In addition to managing Havas Worldwide, he will also be responsible for leading key agency brands including Field Force China, Havas Life Healthcare, Havas Worldwide Digital and Arnold Worldwide.
“Donald is a critical hire for Havas Creative Group China. He is an experienced leader with a track record of leading large agencies and a constant advocate of digital evolution in the industry” Mason Lin, Chairman of Havas Creative Group, Greater China
Marcel Sydney
Publicis Communications' flagship creative and digital agency, Marcel, opens its doors in Sydney this week, bringing an evolution to the Publicis Sydney operations and a highly experienced management team, including Scott Huebscher, who was recently announced as the agency's new Executive Creative Director. Huebscher joins Marcel as ECD from Leo Burnett. While at Burnett, he helped take the agency to the #1 creative ranking in Australia and also #1 creative network in Australia and Asia Pacific in 2014. The new Marcel Sydney management team consists of David Nobay as founder, CEO Gavin Levinsohn, Scott Huebscher, Digital Leader Kim Hopwood, Head of Content Holly Alexander, Director of Client Services Ryan Bernal and Chief Strategy Officer Iona Macgregor, who was previously managing director and head of strategy at Marcel's flagship office in Paris. The new agency becomes the creative engine of Publicis Sydney operations and will work alongside other Publicis businesses including incubator and accelerator offering Drugstore and a soon-to-be launched design and technology business. Marcel attributes its name to Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet, the original founder of Publicis.
“The launch of Marcel presents us with the opportunity to accelerate the evolution of our Sydney business and offers clients an entrepreneurial team with exceptional talent” Andrew Baxter, CEO of Publicis Australia
Maxus
GroupM's Maxus shop has appointed Robert Marshall as Head of Programmatic to lead the agency’s programmatic approach and develop best-in-class programmatic excellence within the agency. Marshall joins from Rocket Fuel, where he was head of UK platform and managed client services for the programmatic marketing platform provider. He has five years’ experience within programmatic, during which he delivered media buying campaigns and implemented data-driven marketing strategies for some of the UK’s largest advertisers. In his new role at Maxus, Marshall will deliver and optimise programmatic campaigns, as well as build awareness and understanding among Maxus employees of the power of automation within marketing.
“Robert brings superb knowledge, valuable experience, and a deep passion for technology to his new role at Maxus” Maxus Managing Partner, Kirsten Miller
CP+B LA
CP+B LA has announced the promotion of Robin Fitzgerald to VP/Executive Creative Director. In her new role, Fitzgerald will lead the global creative for PayPal, which she has recently seen through their first-ever UK Christmas campaign and Super Bowl spot, as well as other accounts. Since 2010, Fitzgerald has acted as VP/Creative Director at CP+B LA, having led creative for Old Navy, Vitaminwater, Applebee's, A.1. and Grey Poupon. With the launch of the Cannes Lions-winning “Society of Good Taste” for Grey Poupon, Robin helped the brand become the first to ever remove fans and deny access to potential fans based on 'good taste' in their user profile, and her Emmy-nominated spot “The Chase” showed what happened 32 years after the brand’s original “Pardon Me” spot aired on TV. Most recently, she’s worked under current CP+B LA ECD, Kevin Jones, in helping PayPal with two very successful brand firsts. PayPal’s first UK Christmas spot, titled “No Presents”, was ranked the number three most effective UK Christmas ads this year by Millward Brown. PayPal’s first ever Super Bowl spot, titled “New Money,” saw similar success when it was named one of the best of the game by TIME, Rolling Stone and others.
“Robin truly is the heart and soul of the LA office and has been for quite some time. We're all very lucky to be working alongside her” Kevin Jones, Executive Creative Director, CP+B LA
St Luke's
St Luke's has appointed M&C Saatchi Managing Partner Ed Palmer to the role of Managing Director. In his new role, Palmer will take over the day-to-day running of the account management department as well as heading up the online retail account, Shop Direct. Palmer's appointment sees previous managing director and planning partner Dan Hulse take on the newly created role of CSO, managing the strategic direction of the agency. Palmer actually started his career at St Luke’s in 1998, three years after the agency launched, and stayed for seven years. He then had a stint at Leo Burnett before joining TBWA where he was made head of account management running Mars, Playstation Europe and Biersdorf.
“St Luke’s is on fire. The opportunity to join a place that has such energy, with a management team I’ve known for the last 18 years, was too good to pass up” Ed Palmer
MPC LA
Award-winning VFX supervisor and lead artist Michael Gregory joins MPC Los Angeles as Head of 2D. He comes on board from MPC London, where for the past 13 years he has worked on many of the industry’s most acclaimed commercials, including Channel 4’s Cannes Film Craft Grand Prix-winner “Meet the Superhumans” for the Paralympics Games. Gregory brings expertise leading teams on large-scale projects, an exemplary aesthetic sensibility and long-standing relationships with top directors to his new role. Gregory has won a host of awards, including a VES honour for Outstanding Animated Commercial for Cadbury “Spots v Stripes” and a D&AD Pencil and British Arrow for Channel 4’s “Street Summer” campaign, for which he helped develop an innovative new filming technique. Gregory joins as MPC LA readies for a move this summer to a new state-of-the-art, 25,000-square-feet studio space in Culver City, where it will integrate its diverse capabilities in advertising and film encompassing VFX, content production, colour grading, VR and film pre-production and VFX supervision onto one floor.
“Michael truly represents the high standards of our culture. I’m looking forward to seeing his contribution to our work and clients, as well as his influence on our up and coming talent” Andrew Bell, Managing Director at MPC LA
Deutsch New York
Deutsch New York CEO Val DiFebo has announced the appointment of Andrew Dawson to Partner, Chief Strategy Officer. Since February, Dawson has been working with Deutsch as a freelance strategist and consultant on existing clients and new business efforts. This is Deutsch NY’s second significant hire this year as it builds out it’s leadership team, the first was in February with the addition of Trevor O’Brien as Partner, Chief Technology Officer, a newly created position. Prior to freelancing at Deutsch, Dawson was CSO at Johannes Leonardo on clients including Google, Mondelez’s Trident, adidas Originals, TripAdvisor, and PlayStation Vue. Before JL, he was co-founder of the Master & Dynamic brand, makers of premium headphones sold at Apple Stores and fashion boutiques, leading strategic vision and brand development. Dawson’s first day will be March 28th. He reports directly to DiFebo and replaces the CSO position most recently held by Brent Vartan who left the agency in June, 2015 to start accelerator agency Bullish.
“We’re excited to have Andrew joining us in one of the most critical positions within the agency. It’s clear that creative business, and business in general, is his passion and it inspires a lifestyle that he truly loves” Deutsch New York CEO Val DiFebo
Bernstein-Rein
Bernstein-Rein has hired award-winning creative director Bryan Michurski in the new role of Group Creative Director. Michurski was brought in by David Smith, Executive Creative Director, who joined the agency in September after a long tenure at LA-based RPA and is in the midst of recasting B-R’s creative ranks. Michurski joins the agency following a successful tour as an independent creative director and commercial director. Before setting out on his own, he was Group Creative Director at Colle + McVoy in Minneapolis where he was best known for leading the re-introduction of the iconic Indian Motorcycle.
