Hasta La Creative!

Just over two months after the announcement that Jeff Benjamin would be transitioning out of his role atop JWT North America’s creative department, the agency has named a new CCO for its New York office.

Adam Kerj joins the agency after serving in the same role for headline-winner 360i (which, coincidentally, just announced the appointment of its own new CCO). Kerj joined the digital shop in May 2012 and recently told Digiday that “there is no such thing as creative genius” while using the same headshot you see here.

The new chief creative spent a decade of his career at Saatchi & Saatchi’s Stockholm office, which he co-founded; prior to that period, he worked in creative positions at Leo Burnett’s Chicago and Denmark locations as well as TBWA Sweden.

Kerj is replacing Matt MacDonald, whose position has been empty since he left last November to help run the AT&T account under BBDO’s David Lubars.

He will report to worldwide CCO Matt Eastwood, and the release tells us that he will work on Macy’s, Johnson & Johnson, Puma, Vonage and Royal Caribbean (among other clients). Eastwood went all out on the quote as well:

“Adam is the ultimate modern communicator. He has achieved sweeping success as a digital pioneer, but has a background rooted in traditional advertising. He is an exceptional creative, a brilliant leader and a great human being. A true global citizen, he has lived and worked around the world, and we are thrilled to have him join our flagship New York office.”

Anyone have anything to add?

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360i tapped L.A. celebrity chefs Roy Choi, Michael Voltaggio and Nguyen Tran (of Starry Kitchen) for a new campaign for Oreos.

Created in collaboration with production company Decon and directed by Claire Cottrell, the series features “Oreo hacks,” with the chefs repurposing the sandwich cookies in inventive, delicious ways. Choi, who you may remember was recently featured in a Google Glass spot, crumbles Oreos into a chicken tender crust that seems like a delicious late night snack. Voltaggio, meanwhile, transforms the cookies into dessert tortillas, accompanied by a shandy created with Lemon Oreo creme. Chan comes up with an “impulse hack” based on other items found in a convenience store, combining Oreos with pound cake, cherry soda and salted peanuts to make a kind of bread pudding. Before introducing their recipes, each chef waxes nostalgic on eating Oreos growing up and shares their different methods of consumption (Voltaggio is an Oreo puller, while Choi is more of a traditionalist). It’s a fun campaign, and should help shed a different light on the brand — especially since the videos point viewers to Oreo’s Tumblr, where they can get the recipes for the Oreo hacks. Stick around for Voltaggio and Tran’s Oreo hacks and full credits after the jump. continued…

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