Omnicom's DDB New York has named Icaro Doria chief creative officer. He fills the position left vacant since Matt Eastwood's departure for JWT this past June.

This is New York office President and CEO Chris Brown's first key hire since joining the agency from DDB Group Australia last September.

"I was very conscientious of doing the due diligence -- I wanted to have all of the right data to form my decision and select the right person," he said.

Mr. Doria will report directly to Mr. Brown and joins the agency from Wieden Kennedy, Sao Paulo, where he was a founder and exec creative director. There, he led creative efforts on Heineken, Nike, Mondelez, Philips and Coca-Cola -- including its 2014 World Cup campaign -- amongst other brands.

"I wanted a real modern creative leader," explained Mr. Brown. "It was important for him to have strong New York and creative experiences, but also very important to be a global citizen."

Prior to Wieden & Kennedy, Mr. Doria had been group creative director at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco following creative roles at both Y&R and Saatchi & Saatchi offices in New York.

"He has the experience of working in big agencies -- ones that have come to fruition," said Mr. Brown, citing Saatchi, where Mr. Doria was a creative director from 2005 to 2008, as an example. "But he works in a great start-up mentality as well -- involved in building an agency from the ground up," he said.

"Opening an agency and starting from zero is more something you do with your heart than something you do with your brain," explained Mr. Doria, "but they're skills you bring along with you for the rest of your career, you learn to make a good first impression over and over again."

Mr. Doria's official start date is March 1.