TBWA names first North America chief marketing officer

TBWA hired Ben Myers as its first North America chief marketing officer. He will work closely with TBWA\Chiat\Day New York and Los Angeles CEOs Nancy Reyes and Erin Riley, respectively, in the U.S. and alongside CEO Eve Rémillard-Larose in Canada.

Myers will be in charge of new business in the region and will focus on using NEXT, TBWA’s global innovation practice, within Web3, the metaverse, business-to-business, employee experience and inclusive design.

“The industry needs a new breed of CMO—one that is solutions-oriented, not selling,” TBWA\Worldwide CEO Troy Ruhanen said in a statement. “One that understands a product culture vs. the table stakes of service models, and one that believes in ways to drive disruptive growth versus incrementalism. Ben is just that.”

Myers joins TBWA from Johannes Leonardo, where he was head of business development. During his time at Johannes Leonardo, the independent agency earned new business from Volkswagen, Kraft-Heinz, Amazon, Uber and Instagram. Myers also held account management positions at BBDO and Droga5. 

Grey Group hires global chief creative officer

Grey Group named Gabriel Schmitt as global chief creative officer, reporting to Global CEO Laura Maness. Schmitt will be based in New York and work closely with New York Chief Creative Officer Thiago Cruz, who took on the role at the end of 2022. 

Schmitt succeeds Javier Campopiano, who is set to take on a global chief creative officer role at McCann Worldgroup

“Grey is built on the belief that fame and effectiveness are not mutually exclusive; quite the opposite, as one feeds the other,” he said in a statement. “This is 100% what I believe and have always worked towards.”

Schmitt joins Grey Group from FCB New York, where he was co-chief creative officer and helped the agency earn Cannes’ North America Network of the Year four years in a row, according to Grey. He was responsible for campaigns including Burger King’s “Whopper Detour“ and Michelob’s “Michelob Ultra Courtside,” "Contract for Change” and "McEnroe vs McEnroe.” 

Most recently, Grey Group revamped Modelo’s creative strategy after winning the account last year, deciding to move away from celebrities and athletes. 

Barrett rebrands

San Francisco-based agency Barrett is rebranding as Barrett Hofherr. This comes after the agency hired Matt Hofherr as partner and chief strategy officer in 2021.

“Matt is not only a longtime friend—he’s also the best business and strategic mind I’ve come across in my years in advertising,” Jamie Barrett, founder and executive creative director, said in a statement. “He’s also a leader with a true vision for what modern brands need and what our agency can deliver. This simply formalizes what we already have, which is an amazing partnership.”

Current clients include Activision/Blizzard, Chime, eBay, MIXT, Twilio, Meta and World Market among others.

Creatives call out 'ageism' in Cannes Young Lions

VCCP creative team Agatha O’Neill and Sarah Lisgo are protesting the Cannes Young Lions competition with a little forgery. The duo is creating fake IDs for creatives over the age of 30 so that they can register for the competition—which has a strict age limit of 30. 

Lisgo and O’Neill have created an “Official Cannes Proof of Youth Card” campaign and accompanying website to highlight ageism in the requirement, particularly for advertising creatives that entered the industry later in life. Lisgo and O’Neill met at the School of Communications Arts 2.0 in 2021, with O’Neill joining the course in her 30s. 

“I was disappointed when I realized we couldn’t enter Young Lions because of my age, after working so hard to change my career and all the sacrifices I made,” O’Neill said in a statement. “Cannes is such a highly regarded institution, and in an industry that already struggles with diversity, we think it has a great opportunity to set a positive example.”

Coffee in the clouds

Ever enjoyed your morning coffee in the clouds? Alexander Schulz has. 

In a recent campaign that was part of a partnership between Ronald McDonald House Charities and Keurig Dr Pepper’s McCafé At Home, Schulz, who is known for his death-defying balancing acts, is shown balancing on a 65-foot long line 7,316 feet above the Pyrenees Mountains in Catalina, Spain. Schulz makes his way across the line attached between two hot air balloons and stops halfway to take a sip of coffee.

“To promote the partnership, we looked for inspiring ways to demonstrate how something as seemingly small as enjoying your morning coffee can actually have a big impact on somebody else's life,” Dan Lucey, chief creative officer of Havas New York, said in a statement.

“As the first attempt of its kind, this was an extremely intense and very challenging walk—definitely one of the boldest, if not the boldest walks I've ever done,” Schulz added.

The integrated campaign will include social and digital components throughout the month of March.

Just Briefly

RAPP launched “The Table Makers” sponsorship program to nurture talent. The program connects junior employees with senior employee “sponsors” across the Omnicom agency to help them grow and advance their careers.

WPP acquired German healthcare specialist PR agency 3K Communication. The agency will become part of the Hill+Knowlton Strategies global network, strengthening its healthcare presence in Europe.

Commerce company Gorilla Group, which was acquired by Wunderman Thompson in 2018, is rebranding as Wuderman Thompson Commerce & Technology in North America. This is a new unit that will be led by Gorilla Group Chief Operating Officer Adam Brown, who is now taking the helm as CEO. Current Gorilla Group CEO Brian Grady will move into an advisory role.

David Miami hired two new associate creative directors as part of an expansion of its creative team, Bruno Reis and João Corazza. The duo has been working together since 2016 and prior to this had served as associate creative directors at São Paulo-based full-service agency Africa.