Akestam.Holst's Paul Collins Joins AKQA New York as Group Creative Director

Paul Collins, former interactive creative director at Sweden's Akestam.Holst, has joined AKQA's New York office as group creative director. Since the '90s, U.K. native Collins has lived in Sweden, where he's racked up awards and steered memorable digital work, like last year'sCannes Gold Lion-winning campaign for the Swedish Postal Service, "Stefan the Swopper." The multiplatform campaign starred Swedish performance artist Stefan Kits, who uploaded all his possessions to a site and offered to swap them out to others in an effort to encourage young people to use the Swedish Postal service. src="http://creativity-online.com/video/player.swf" width="480" height="270" name="embedded_player" align="middle" quality="high" bgcolor="#869ca7" play="true" loop="false" quality="high" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashVars="config=http://creativity-online.com/xml/config.player.php&p=15433&u=-1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer"> "Paul is absolutely world-class," says AKQA CCO Rei Inamoto, who first met Collins when they were both judging an awards show a few years ago. "I thought he was a great guy, smart, articulate and passionate. He stuck out and I kept a mental note of him that I would love to have an opportunity to work with him. He has been one of the best creatives in Europe, especially in the digital marketing realm. Adding him to the AKQA bench was a no-brainer and I couldn't be more excited. Plus, Paul is an extremely nice, humble and genuine guy ? which is a big plus." Collins' client credits also include major brands like Nike, Nissan and Samsung, as well as big Swedish names like Volvo. His hiring comes on the heels of another top international creative appointment out of AKQA. The company also named Johan Vakidis from OgilvyOne China as ECD of AKQA's Shanghai office. Collins' move to New York also marks another big name Swedish arrival to the city. Earlier this month, Mother, New York also announced that Stockholm agency Farfar co-founder Nicke Bergstrom was joining the agency as a creative director. More of Collins' work: This contextual banner ad for Stockholm-based apparel retailer Playground picks the appropriate winter outwear for the weather in your hood. src="http://creativity-online.com/video/player.swf" width="480" height="270" name="embedded_player" align="middle" quality="high" bgcolor="#869ca7" play="true" loop="false" quality="high" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashVars="config=http://creativity-online.com/xml/config.player.php&p=14934&u=-1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer"> Personal grooming tips were at the heart of this semi-controversial campaign for the SFSU, the Swedish Association for Sex Education. src="http://creativity-online.com/video/player.swf" width="480" height="270" name="embedded_player" align="middle" quality="high" bgcolor="#869ca7" play="true" loop="false" quality="high" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashVars="config=http://creativity-online.com/xml/config.player.php&p=428&u=-1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer">

Akestam.Holst's Paul Collins Joins AKQA New York as Group Creative Director

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