Hasta La Creative!

Creative directors Nick Hine, Ross Ludwig, Rick Utzinger, Brandon Davis and Yo Umeda, as well as Jack in the Box group account director Michelle Tebbe, have all recently left David&Goliath. Sources attribute their departures to the usual motions of the agency revolving door, and a David&Goliath representative declined to confirmed for this post.

Hine, who appears to be freelancing following his departure, joined David&Goliath in February of 2015 and focused on the agency’s Kia account. Before joining David&Goliath he spent two and a half years at TBWAChiatDay as a global and group creative director on the Infiniti account.

Ludwig also went the freelance route following his departure. He joined David&Goliath in April of 2015 working on Kia and Jack in the Box after working on Infiniti as a freelance creative director with CP+B. Earlier roles include several years with Saatchi & Saatchi London as a senior copywriter/creative group head on the Sony Europe account. 

Utzinger, who went to Fallon, arrived at D&G in April of 2015 after also working at TBWA on Buffalo Wild Wings, the Grammys and Miller Lite. Davis ran his own freelance operation before signing with D&G in early 2015; his clients included Chrysler, Old Spice and Gatorade.

Umeda recently worked in both creative department and client-side gigs, serving as ECD at McCann’s m:united in New York and VP of creative/design at fashion giant Clinique after working on Apple campaigns at TBWAMedia Arts Lab.

Tebbe arrived at the agency as a group account director in September of 2014 and has worked on Jack in the Box since David&Goliath won creative duties away from Secret Weapon last August. She’s also worked in accounts and management roles at TBWA, Grey and 180LA.

Again, we hear that these departures were routine and that some of the individuals in question left to pursue their own projects. Sources tell us the moves do not reflect on any changes in accounts, and we hear that David&Goliath may have some hiring announcements to follow.

Right about this time every year, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA debuts its TV spots for the Grammys. And, every year, they’re pretty underwhelming. A few years back, we got a swirly, graphics overload with CGI re-tellings of artists like Eminem’s life story. Last year, we got the hashtag-happy #TheWholeWorldIsListening, which aimed to put viewers into the shoes of stars like Rihanna while trying to convince them that the awards show was still in any way relevant.

This year’s first spot, “Anthem,” looked more like a VH1 commercial than anything else, and it seemed we were in for yet another year of mediocrity. But then, dare we say it, the Grammys and Chiat LA ctually surprised us. The latest spot in the Music Unleashes Us campaign, “Drive” (above), does a fantastic job of convincing viewers that they owe it to the artists who get them through times of sorrow and heartbreak to watch their performances on the Grammys.

From Pink and fun., we move to Macklemore and “Doughnut Shop,” another well-produced and compelling spot filmed outside of Inglewood’s famous Randy’s Donuts. Again, these spots excel at following through with what the campaign promises – portraying the affect that popular music has on the average TV viewer. It both ignites and unleashes, an important sentiment for the Grammys to glom onto as the show still figures out its approach to celebrating an industry that doesn’t know what to do next. One more Katy Perry-tinged spot, and credits, follow after the jump.

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