DDB New York hires Mat Bisher as its new chief creative officer

The house that Bernbach built has a new chief creative officer. Today, DDB announced that McCann Exec VP-Executive Creative Director Mat Bisher will step into the role at the agency’s flagship office in New York, working under Global Chief Creative Officer Ari Weiss. Bisher has more than two decades of creative experience. He spent 16 years at McCann after joining in 2005 as a senior art director, gradually moving up to his current post. There, his work spanned clients including Microsoft, the U.S. Army, Verizon, Mastercard, Lockheed Martin, the New York Lottery, Chevrolet and Qualcomm.Subscribe to Ad Age now for the latest industry news and analysis. His highlights included Nature Valley’s celebrated “Trail View” campaign (above), which leveraged Google’s Streetview tech to bring consumers virtually to natural wonders around the country, including Yellowstone Park, the Great Smoky Mountains and the Grand Canyon. He also oversaw out-of-the-box pushes for the New York Lottery, including the creation of heavy metal songs (from a non-existent band) that ran on Spotify to promote “Black Titanium” scratch-off tickets. Prior to McCann, Bisher had served in creative roles at BBDO, Deutsch and Burrell. The new chief creative officer announcement rounds out a major overhaul of DDB's New York office leadership. Bisher follows former McCann colleague Darla Price, who became president in May after serving as acting president at McCann 215 and executive account director for McCann New York. She was joined by new Chief Strategy Officer Auro Trini Castelli, who last was chief strategy officer of IPG-owned agency Elephant. The larger DDB network has also seen recent big changes in its creative ranks. In June, North American Chief Creative Officer Britt Nolan departed the agency to return to his former shop, Leo Burnett, to become chief creative officer and president of its Chicago office, while the agency’s Chief Production Officer Diane Jackson left to steer global production at Facebook. The leadership shift is part of the agency’s plan to evolve following the trials of COVID-19, which inspired the industry to rethink its ways of working. “It’s ultimately about building the best team possible for the world that exists today so that we can best serve our clients and our employees,” Weiss says. “If the business isn't built to be healthy, it doesn't suit anyone, and this is the type of leadership we need to bring in to really drive 2021 and beyond.” In Bisher, Weiss sees a leader who knows how to create for modern audiences and modern brands. “The work clients are asking for has shifted dramatically in the last few years—it’s about meeting people on the media platforms they’re engaged in most deeply,” he says. “Mat’s work, from Nature Valley to NY Lottery, the consistency by which he’s been doing this is pretty remarkable. They’re really interesting ideas that hit a very specific audience, wth specific insights that actually will penetrate.” Among the New York office’s accounts are Kroger, Cotton Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Aveeno and Neutrogena. Though innovative ideas continue to come from across the network, with work for Miller Lite from Chicago and San Franciso to the stream of standout ideas from Adam&EveDDB in London and increasingly, New York, DDB's New York City flagship hasn’t made as much creative noise in recent years. “We have great aspirations about lifting the creative product in New York specifically, which is what Matt’s being brought in to do, in a responsibility that I share with him,” Weiss says. “It’s also about how do we get all these offices in the U.S.—Chicago, San Francisco and New York—humming together. What I've found works best is when we have an amalgam, what I call a kind of creative gang, versus the genius with 1,000 helpers model. That worked for a really, really long time, but I don't think that's the world we live in today. It has to be a gang of creatives who want to help each other, grown on each other’s abilities.” Of the accounts he’s especially looking forward to, Bisher cites supermarket chain Kroger. DDB New York had been the grocery chain’s first agency and steered its major brand refresh in 2019, and Bisher sees potential to do even more. “It’s a brand about people, about food, one that nourishes us, and it has the ability to do lots of things. I’m ready to jump in and see what we can make for them besides just advertising.” Bisher will step into his new role on October 1. The agency’s current Co-Chief Creative Officers, Lisa Topol and Derek Barnes, will be departing the agency at the end of this month as part of the new leadership restructure. “Lisa and Derek were tremendous leaders and moved the New York business forward and we’re grateful for everything they put into it,” Weiss says. “They’re going to do amazing things, I have no doubt.” Though the last 18 months took a huge toll on big agencies in particular, both Bisher and Weiss believe that big shops will remain relevant and crucial players to the industry. “I have seen the ebbs and flows of this business, with people wanting to work in a different style of agency or at a different place," Bisher says. "Ultimately, it comes down to the best creative minds and the best thinkers and business people getting together and figuring out creative solutions to solve problems. If you have the right talent, you can figure it out anywhere.”Subscribe to Ad Age now for the latest industry news and analysis.

DDB New York hires Mat Bisher as its new chief creative officer

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