Hasta La Creative!

Today we learned that Rupert Samuel – industry veteran, broadcast producer and partner/co-founder at goodness Mfg. – is leaving the agency effective immediately.

A native Briton, Samuel worked in production at CP+B for more than a decade, rising to the position of VP/director of integrated production before leaving to help found goodness in 2007 along with several other Crispin alums. (At the time, he explained its reasons for being to Adweek.)

goodness was acquired by production company Trailer Park in 2010; following the acquisition, Samuel was promoted to the EVP position and earned another Adweek headline, with Rick Eiserman writing that he “put the integrated production model on the map” during his time with CP+B.

Here’s the official statement from an agency spokesperson:

“Rupert Samuel is departing goodness Mfg. as SVP, Integrated Production. The original creative co-founders, Chief Creative Officer Paul Keister and Executive Creative Directors Bob Cianfrone and Tom Adams will continue as creative leads for the agency’s clients including Toshiba, Vail Resorts and Westfield.”

Based on the information we’ve received, it seems that Samuel has accepted another position. We have no word on where he’s headed, but we expect to see a hiring announcement soon.

In case you missed it, Samuel’s most recently visible work was the “Sillycon Valley” campaign for Toshiba.

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We didn’t run this story last week because we couldn’t verify it, but here it is: 72andSunny has hired Martin Ringqvist, best known as the guy behind the Van Damme “Epic Split” spot, as its newest group creative director.

Ringqvist will begin his new GCD role in January, joining the agency from Sweden’s Forsman & Bodenfors, where he was senior partner and copywriter.

72andSunny wouldn’t tell AdAge which accounts Ringqvist will work on just as they wouldn’t tell us whether last week’s rumors about his hiring were true. But the press release does provide us with a couple of quotes, which we will now dutifully reproduce. From CCO Glenn Cole:

“Martin’s innovative body of work speaks for itself, but his role in helping to shape the famously collaborative culture at Forsman & Bodenfors is just as significant. I’m excited to see how he will evolve what we do and how we do it.”

From Ringqvist himself:

“High pace, demanding clients and a total commitment to the task. Who would say no to that? And when it stood clear to me that the people at 72andSunny were just as amazing as their work, it was a no-brainer.”

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In news we missed, mcgarrybowen followed the debut of its first work for new client Intel and staffing changes at its New York and San Francisco offices by announcing the appointment of its first CCO: New York MD/ECD Mark Koelfgen.

The agency did not send out a release, choosing instead to confirm Koelfgen’s promotion at its town hall event on Friday.

mcgarrybowen hired Koelfgen directly from GSD&M, where he served as ACD, in 2005; prior to joining GSD&M, he worked as an ACD at Deutsch New York after beginning his copywriting career at DDB/Tracy Locke in Dallas. mcgarrybowen hired Koelfgen as a creative director, and he worked on the Reebok and Brahma beer accounts before being promoted to the MD/ECD position in the agency’s New York office in 2009.

Koelfgen’s accomplishments during his tenure at mcgarrybowen include the successful launch of Verizon’s Droid brand, which led to the agency’s subsequent victory in the Verizon Mobile pitch (a pitch on which he was lead creative).

The agency says that they picked him after searching for candidates both internally and externally. As a member of the New York leadership team, the new CCO will work closely with mbNY President Tom Sewell and Global CSO Jennifer Zimmerman while reporting directly to co-founder Gordon Bowen (who currently oversees global creative strategy).

In addition to Verizon, Koelfgen’s portfolio includes work for Pepsi, AT&T, Microsoft, American Airlines, IKEA, Snapple and more.

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Publicis Groupe’s Level Studios has announced the appointment of Dan Connolly as CEO, MediaPost reports. He fills a role left vacant by the departure of Tom Adamski, now CEO of Razorfish Global, for Rosetta in April of 2013.

Connolly, who over the past sixteen months has risen from partner, to president and now CEO, will be responsible for overseeing all business units across the agency’s U.S. and European locations and will also act as a member of the Brand Leadership team for Level Studios’ parent network, Razorfish Global. He will operate primarily out of San Luis Obispo, California but will travel between Level’s offices and clients as part of his expanded role, with an emphasis on the Bay Area and New York. Connoly told MediaPost his objectives in the new role are to complete building “Level’s executive leadership team, align talent across existing and new offices, and to work closely with the newly formed Razorfish Global and Brand leadership teams.” (more…)

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Rob Feakins, President and CCO of New York’s Publicis Kaplan Thaler, will be leaving the agency next month.

Various sources told us that Feakins made the announcement in an all-agency meeting this afternoon, and a spokesperson for PKT has confirmed that he plans to step down. Here’s the official statement:

Feakins joined Publicis New York in 2006 as President/CCO after six years at Kirshenbaum, Bond + Partners. He retained that position after the New York office merged with Kaplan Thaler in 2012.

A reader tells us that Feakins will remain with PKT until mid-December and that there has been no news of a search for someone to fill his role.

The agency also has yet to comment on rumored changes regarding its name and location.

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AKQA Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer James Hilton is leaving the agency to open his own London design firm, AdAge reports.

He will be succeeded by Rei Inamoto, who was already AKQA’s lead creative for the U.S. and Asia. Also as a result of Hilton’s departure, the agency is promoting Europe creative lead Duan Evans to international executive creative director, responsible for overseeing creative across Europe, Asia and South America. Hilton will not be completely severing ties with the agency, however, as he will serve as chairman of a new group entitled AKQA Alumni, “through which alumni will host events, share ideas and provide mentoring for the next generation of talent.”

Hilton and CEO Ajaz Ahmed founded AKQA around 20 years ago, expanding the shop over time to include over fourteen offices globally. WPP bought the agency back in 2012 and, according to AdAge, it is unclear if Hilton was offered an earnout as part of the deal. AKQA declined to comment to that publication on the question. Hilton’s new product and design firm is called AtelierStrange. (more…)

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BBH London has hired Beto Fernandez and Paco Conde as executive creative directors, Campaign reports.

The pair gained notoriety for their work on Dove’s Titanium Grand Prix-winning “Real Beauty Sketches” campaign, while also helping Ogilvy Brazil win Agency of the Year at the 2013 Cannes Lions. Conde currently serves as director general creative at Ogilvy Brazil, while Fernandez is an executive creative director at sister agency David. Conde and Fernandez first worked together at Ogilvy in 2012, and currently work with such clients as Coca-Cola, Unilever, FIFA, Philips, GlaxoSmithKline and the United Nations.

“We want the best people in the world here,” said Nick Gill, executive creative director at BBH London. “People with diverse skills and fresh ideas to point this agency firmly at the future. As such, I couldn’t be more excited about Paco and Beto joining us. They are as good as it gets.”

Fernandez and Conde will begin their roles at BBH London early next year.

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We have very little in the way of details at the moment, but we hear that Bill Oakley, the CCO who has served in various leadership roles at Dallas/Ft. Worth-based TM Advertising for well over twenty years, stepped down from his post this week.

Oakley officially assumed the chief creative role nearly four years ago in a move that expanded upon his existing responsibilities as GCD and creative lead on American Airlines.

He has been with TM/McCann Worldgroup for a majority of his celebrated career, recently leading the ExxonMobil and Nortel accounts. When announced, the CCO position included oversight of the agency’s Dallas and Austin offices as well as continuing work on the global side of McCann. Earlier in his career, Oakley held positions at DMB&B in St. Louis, Hutcheson Shutze in Atlanta, and Hesselbart & Mitten in Cleveland.

All we have from the agency so far is a “no comment”; we expect to have more information by the end of the week.

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DDB Chicago has named Jack Perone as its new chief strategy officer, AdAge reports. Perone takes over for John Kottman, who leaves for New York to become director of strategy for DDB’s North America operations.

Perone arrives at DDB Chicago as an 18 year veteran at JWT, most recently serving as VP-director of strategic planning. In that position, Perone was responsible for managing the planning department, overseeing agency accounts and generating new business — including Tylenol, Motrin, Kit Kat, Grand Marnier, Special K and the University of Toronto. Prior to JWT, Perone worked at FCB as an account executive, McCann Erickson as account supervisor and Lowe SMS as account director. (more…)

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Derek Green is returning to Australia to join Ogilvy Group Sydney after almost ten years abroad to fill the role of executive creative director. Green will partly fill the void left by the departure of CCO Steve Back in July. He will lead Ogilvy Group Sydney’s team of 57 creatives beginning in December.

Green arrives from Cramer Krasselt in Chicago, where he has worked since 2012, currently serving as SVP, executive creative director. He has worked with clients including Heineken, P&G, Diageo, Novartis, Canon and Subaru, and has been the recipient of Gold and Silver Cannes Lions.

“We were able to persuade him that after nearly a decade earning international experience, it was time to come home,” David Fox, CEO Ogilvy Group Australia, told Campaign Brief. “We’ve found an international creative director who is hungry to take on the opportunities Ogilvy has to offer; the fact he has a local pedigree and market knowledge is an added bonus.”

“This is a huge opportunity to now bring everything I’ve learned in several decades of advertising to a great agency, with an iconic client list, and a lead a team of very clever and motivated individuals,” Green added.

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