Happy Friday, and welcome back to Agency Brief. This week we are highlighting executive moves at Fallon and BBH USA, as well as account wins at Ogilvy and Goodby Silverstein & Partners. Want to be included in a future edition? Reach out to [email protected] and [email protected] for consideration.

From CCO to CEO

Fallon promoted co-chief creative officer Nikki Baker to CEO, succeeding Rocky Novak, who has been in the role since 2019. Novak is departing the Publicis Groupe agency in January after 22 years, though his next move was not immediately clear. 

Baker, who has been in her current role since 2021, has led creative for brands including Arby’s, Mattress Firm and FrontDoor. Prior to joining Fallon six years ago, Baker held positions as a creative director and art director at agencies including Omnicom's DDB and GSD&M.

Leslie Shaffer, who held the co-chief creative officer title alongside Baker, will now be the sole chief creative officer.

In case you missed it

Before we go any further, here are a few of Ad Age’s biggest agency stories this week:

• 33 ad execs predict how Trump’s election will impact marketing

• WPP retains Marine Corps’ $1.9 billion account

• Translation hires Publicis media exec as president

Code and Theory launches government practice

Stagwell’s Code and Theory is launching a government experience practice that will include building websites and apps, providing advanced AI-powered digital services and offering traditional marketing for government entities 

Dominic Sale, former VP of government affairs at tech and IT consultancy REI Systems, will lead the practice as managing director. Sale has spent nearly half of his career working at government entities including The White House’s Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration.

“Every industry is being transformed by AI and other emerging technologies,” Code and Theory Co-Founder Dan Gardner said in a statement. “Government is no exception.” 

Ogilvy expands business with H&R Block

H&R Block hired Ogilvy as its CRM agency of record. Gale has held the account since 2021 and will continue to be the media agency of record.

Ogilvy One, the agency network’s CRM division, will manage the account through The Lacek Group, a Minneapolis agency under Ogilvy One, in partnership with Ogilvy New York.

The appointment marks an expansion of Ogilvy's relationship with H&R Block, following the agency winning H&R Block’s creative, brand strategy and PR business in 2022.

Just briefly

Empower, a provider of retirement and wealth management services, appointed Omnicom's Goodby Silverstein & Partners as agency of record for creative and strategy. The account was won following a competitive pitch led by Joanne Davis Consulting. The brand previously worked with Pereira O’ Dell.

BBH USA expanded its creative leadership with the appointment of four executive creative directors: Jane Cronk, a group creative director at Anomaly; Ricardo Franco, who most recently group creative director for David Madrid; and Peter Defries and Alan Wilson, who were promoted from senior VP group creative directors.

Leo Macias, the former global VP of marketing and activation at Amazon Prime Video and Studios, launched an agency called Noad Creative. The agency has already been nominated for a Latin Grammy for one of its first projects, a vinyl album cover designed for Brazilian singer Jair Oliveira’s new album Tekoá. Prior to his time at Amazon, Macias was the head of global creative at Snap.

Stagwell on Thursday reported 8% organic net revenue growth for the third quarter. Speaking on the company’s earnings call, Stagwell CEO Mark Penn said he anticipates double-digit growth in the fourth quarter and reaffirmed guidance of 5% to 7% organic revenue growth for 2024.

The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism appointed Allison, a global PR agency, to lead its DEI and multicultural marketing efforts. This is the brand’s first time hiring an agency for this work.

The Many appointed a new group creative director. Jeremiah Wassom, senior VP, creative director at Deutsch, takes on the newly created role at the agency.

Contributing: Ewan Larkin