FCB has boosted its creative leadership ranks with the appointment today of Danilo Boer as global creative partner. The agency vet last served as co-chief creative officer of Ogilvy & Mather New York alongside fellow co-CCO Marcos Kotlhar and fills the role vacated in July by former Worldwide Creative Partner Fred Levron, who became global chief creative officer at Dentsu.

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Boer, a Brazilan native, had joined Ogilvy in September 2020 in the middle of the pandemic and, alongside Kotlhar, led the agency’s 100+-strong creative team on work for clients such as IBM, Ikea, Nationwide and others, while helping land new accounts such as Absolut, Zippo and World of Hyatt. Prior to Ogilvy, he had been a longtime BBDO vet and steered award-winning work as an executive creative director in the New York office and, before that, as a creative at Brazil’s Almap BBDO. In his new post at IPG-owned FCB, he will work hand in hand with Global Chief Creative Officer Susan Credle to nurture and continue the agency’s creative momentum around the world. 

The “creative partner” title is not a standard one in the agency world. It emerged organically at FCB about five years ago when Levron had joined the team to help Credle boost the agency’s creative product. At the time, the agency hadn’t been in the best place creatively. “We didn’t have a great creative reputation, we had major talent issues, things were more fractured,” Credle said.

In the ensuing years, however, the role proved a crucial one that helped bring the agency’s creative output to a new high. The agency went on to win top honors such as the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Burger King's “Whopper Detour.” It earned the overall Network of the Year honor at the Cannes Lions earlier this year while FCB Health earned Health Network of the Year. 

With momentum on an upswing, then, why the need for such a role now?

“We took a pause and asked all our CCOs, ‘We’re in a different place now, what do you think?’” Credle said. “It’s a luxury position, we have a lot of talented leaders, so do we need this? We decided the answer is ‘Yes.’ If we believe creativity is an economic multiplier, we should not shut down this position—it’s an imperative.” 

The talent wars and talent struggles, Credle said, played a major factor in the decision. “I look at CCOs around the world and they are working so hard all the time, so to have someone to help identify the work that’s on top and make sure those ideas get the love, a talented person who’s focused purely on creative, not distracted by a client that’s upset or needs to be retained” is paramount, she said.

As for why Boer fits the bill, for one, his craft is impeccable. While at Almap, under the agency’s celebrated creative chief Marcello Serpa, Boer helped create award-winning campaigns for Havianas, Pepsi, Getty Images and Billboard Magazine.

“A lot of it is about caring, caring every step of the way,” Boer said. “Marcello Serpa cared about the idea so much, every step of the way that he made all of us care so much, and that’s what I hope I brought to the U.S., a level of care for every step of the process that I think really shows up in the end.”

Credle also noted that Boer’s thinking on where advertising is going—toward co-creation and e-commerce and beyond classic media—was key as well. After Almap, Boer moved to the States to work at BBDO New York, where he and Kotlhar led innovative campaigns for Macy’s, GE (“Building a World That Works”) and Bacardi. The last included the “Do What Moves You” campaign, which deftly leveraged technology to nurture the brand’s relationship with young consumers. 

Most important, however, Credle said, was Boer’s thinking on what the creative partner role would entail. “He said something really important to me—’I’m not just your creative partner, I’m the creative partner of the agencies all around the world.’” 

“I want to make sure everyone feels I’m not their boss,” Boer added. “I want to be a true partner to all the CCOs and help keep the momentum going, get my hands dirty, do great work with them and have fun along the way.”

Boer said he leaves Ogilvy during a period of “great trajectory.” On top of its big client wins, the agency over the last few months has brought in an infusion of top-level creative talent including former TBWA/Chiat/Day New York Chief Creative Officer Chris Beresford-Hill as its North America president, advertising; Global CCO Liz Taylor, who moved from Leo Burnett; and North America CEO and Global Chairwoman of Advertising Devika Bulchandani, who moved from McCann.

Boer’s appointment at FCB follows other major moves including the elevation in September of Vita Harris to global chief strategy officer (from chief strategy officer) and the hire of former BBDO executive Tina Allan as Head of Data Science and Connections. 

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