TBWA\Chiat\Day New York has named Dustin Tomes as chief creative officer, five months after Amy Ferguson left the position to join Special Group.

Tomes will assume the role on Oct. 10 and arrives from Publicis Groupe’s Le Truc, where he was executive creative director for two years. This is his second stint at TBWA\Chiat\Day, having been an associate creative director at the agency a decade ago. He has also worked at Saatchi & Saatchi, Droga5, Leo Burnett and Crispin.

Among his best-known work, Tomes created “#ForTheThrone” for HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and “Never Lost” for Facebook while at Droga5; “You’re Gonna Need More Tide” for Tide detergent at Saatchi; and a slew of acclaimed campaigns for Campbell’s snack brands, also via Saatchi, including “Goldfish Jingle” and “Go for the Handful” for Goldfish and “Gingerbread Dread” for Snyder’s of Hanover.

Emily Wilcox, CEO of Chiat New York, said the tonal range of Tomes’ work stood out to her, as did his risk taking on big brands.

“Any of these brands you could see doing something safe and expected, and he takes the exact opposite route,” Wilcox said. “We have really big, mature clients [at Chiat] with exciting and challenging problems to solve. Having somebody who really opens up the full canvas of creativity to solve them is exciting.”

Tomes’ temperament will make him a strong creative leader, Wilcox said. “He’s as thoughtful as he is kind. We hit it off right from the first conversation,” she said.

This is Tomes’ first time as a CCO. He said he was drawn back to Chiat by the agency’s storied history and by Wilcox’s championing of great creative. Of his approach to the work, he said it’s all about having a great idea at the core and activating it across channels that make the most sense.

“It could be social first, it could be an activation, it could be more traditional media. But first you find a great idea you know people will care about, and you figure out where it goes from there,” he said. “You find where the target are spending their time, and you make sure the idea comes to life in those spaces.”

Wilcox said Tomes can also think beyond advertising, as clients increasingly need business solutions, not just communications. 

“Advertising is the tip of the spear in terms of creativity,” she said. “But we also have big platform thinking that can span a lot of things. We have a pretty incredible design offering that impacts the communication but can also go into consumer and employee experiences. We are thinking about innovation strategy. A leader like Dustin can unlock what creativity can do for the full business experience.”

Tomes began his career in Lincoln, Nebraska, at a small agency called Thought District, which later became Agent.