Havas Chicago hires new president
Havas Chicago’s Chief Creative Officer Myra Nussbaum has been promoted to the dual role of both president and chief creative officer of the creative agency. Previous President Nikki Laughlin left to join a company called Accelerate 360. Nussbaum will report directly to CEO Stephanie Nerlich
Nussbaum became the first woman chief creative officer within Havas’ North American creative network in March of 2021 and is now the first person to hold the dual role. In addition to her current responsibilities, she will add agency leadership duties such as strategic oversight and guidance to her everyday tasks.
“Havas Chicago’s former president, Nikki Laughlin, left the agency in the fall of 2021,” Nerlich said. “Because creativity is at the center of Havas, Myra has informally acted as an agency leader, working closely with me and Village executives to ensure network synergies and collaboration. It was this organic leadership acumen that convinced us that Myra is the right person for the new dual role.”
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Joan has been tapped as lead global agency for S&P Global, which provides credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics for capital and commodity markets. The agency will break the company’s first global brand campaign later this year based on a new strategic foundation for the company. “We are excited to be S&P Global’s partner in defining the next stage of their growth. This company makes such a profound impact on all of our lives, from the indices that underpin retirement accounts to measuring the impact of progress towards sustainable goals,” said Lisa Clunie, co-founder and CEO of Joan.
Wunderman Thompson has promoted Tony Weber to chief data officer of North America. Weber first joined the agency in 2017 as principal consultant, where he led digital transformation initiatives. He began his new role at the end of 2021.
Minneapolis-based agency Periscope has tapped Mike Caguin as its new chief creative officer, effective February, 14. He joins from Colle McVoy, where he has worked for 15 years, most recently serving as chief creative officer. The agency has been looking to fill the role since May 2021 after the departure of the previous Chief Creative Officer Peter Nicholson.
Global talent agency UTA has brought on Lindsay Wagner as its first chief diversity officer. Prior to joining the company, Wagner served as senior VP and head of diversity, equity and inclusion, North America at Ketchum.
Brand Citizens, a purpose and impact consultancy spun out of 72andSunny, has named Lauryn Nwankpa as its new co-managing director, replacing Elisha Greenwell who left the agency to pursue new opportunities, according to a spokeswoman for 72andSunny.
Digital agency Shift Paradigm has named Elizabeth Ross as its new CEO, replacing the agency’s co-founder Morgan Stewart, who will move into a new position on Shift Paradigm’s board of directors. Ross most recently served as chief marketing officer of Bright Health Group. Prior to that she served as CEO of Minneapolis agency Periscope.
Los Angeles-based Observatory has named Brenden Shields-Shimzu as its first president and chief operating officer. Shields-Shimizu was most recently managing director and head of the brand team, where he led work for Chipotle, Marriott, AB InBev, Bonobos, Netflix and Nike, among others. His previous position will be filled by Caroline Doyle, who currently oversees the agency’s Netflix and Treasury Wine Estates accounts. The agency has also brought on Hunter Leigh Hall and Ben Majoy for new roles as creative directors.
The Singapore Tourism Board has appointed Publicis Groupe to handle its integrated creative and media account with a brief to reinvigorate tourism after the pandemic. The team, which spans creative shop BBH, media agency Zenith, integrated marketing agency Digitas and production platform Prodigious, will handle the account as a Power of One team called [email protected] Teams from WPP’s VMLY&R, Havas’ BLKJ and Omnicom’s BBDO are also understood to have pitched for the brief, which is worth $73 million over a period of five years. Omnicom’s TBWA was the incumbent.
Stagwell announced that Stagwell Media Network agencies MMI and Media Kitchen are merging under the MMI brand. The enhanced agency boasts 175 employees, 130 from MMI and 45 from Media Kitchen. Clients include Amazon, Gillette, Loews Hotels, Olay, Pantene, and Waste Management.
