October Agency Shake-Up: Strategy Hires, Manchester Mergers and Craft's Return
In October, agencies specializing in branding and creativity prioritized strategy over artificial intelligence. Landor appointed James Withey to a global strategy position, while Small World introduced Grace Duncan as its inaugural head of strategy. Adam Thompson was named associate director of strategy at Dalziel & Pow. Interbrand brought on Elspeth Cheung as executive director for brand economics in London. Ustwo promoted Kim Lawrie to head of tech and welcomed Simon Bouton from Google DeepMind as its first AI non-executive director. Chris Garbutt joined Brandtech Group as global chief creative officer. The Chase acquired Squad and fully took over The Chase Films. Say Yes and Verse unified under the name COMMON. Lippincott's acquisition of Athletics was finalized on 2 November. Noteworthy transitions included Jeff Bowerman moving to We Are Social and Martell appointing Prince Gyasi as a creative partner.
Key facts
- Landor created a global strategy role for James Withey, and Small World named Grace Duncan its first head of strategy
- Interbrand appointed Elspeth Cheung as executive director for brand economics, based in London
- ustwo named Kim Lawrie head of tech and appointed Google DeepMind's Simon Bouton as its first AI non-executive director
- Brandtech Group hired Chris Garbutt as global chief creative officer; its Pencil platform has made over 10 million ads for 10,000 brands since 2018
- The Chase acquired Manchester consultancy Squad and fully acquired The Chase Films, retaining around 40 staff with no redundancies
- York agencies Say Yes and Verse merged to form COMMON, a 30-strong team working across London and York
- Lippincott is acquiring Brooklyn's Athletics, with the deal expected to close on 2 November
- Crufts appointed Tommy for its 2027 campaign, with activity starting in late October ahead of the 4–7 March 2027 show at NEC Birmingham
- Martell appointed Ghanaian visual artist Prince Gyasi as a creative partner
- Preston Spire rebranded as Meerkat after 76 years in business
Entities
Artists
- James Withey
- Grace Duncan
- Adam Thompson
- Elspeth Cheung
- Kim Lawrie
- Simon Bouton
- Chris Garbutt
- David Jones
- Pink Kitsawat
- Corinna Falusi
- Nicole Pinochet
- Cher Keane
- Claire Blyth
- Alex Blyth
- Conall McAteer
- Solomon Bednall-Greaves
- Hattie Abbott
- Amy Ibukunoluwa Lewis
- Laura Coller
- Ross Watson
- Richard Telford
- Trisha Mehta
- Iestyn Haberfield
- Andrew Wiggan
- Petra Eriksson
- Eva-Lena Hagqvist
- Hilary Stephenson
- Elisa Maezono
- Amelia Cheung
- Justin Fines
- Jeff Bowerman
- Lucy Doubleday
- Gonzalo Brujo
- Chris Falconer
- Cerys James
- Abigail Scott-Sauro
- Katie Revell
- Becky Mailen
- Simon Hill
- Sam Hollis
- Keith Ware
- Niall Murdoch
- Allan Wood
- Lewis Buckley
- Prince Gyasi
- TJ Sawyer
- Laura Coyle
- Callum Powell
- Pete Harrison
- Amaya Alvarez
- Dustin Black
- Jennifer Spire
- Ben Casey
- Lionel Hatch
- Mark Gill
- Alex Roberts
- Rob Gray
- David Barraclough
- Alex Hansson
- Phil Clark
- John Brolly
- Jordan Donnelly
- Hayley Gardener
- Lucy Stockton
- Jiaan Koch
- Dan Salkey
Institutions
- Landor
- Small World
- Dalziel & Pow
- Interbrand
- ustwo
- Google DeepMind
- Brandtech Group
- Pencil
- Vice Media Group
- Virtue
- TBWA\Worldwide
- Ogilvy
- House 337
- Engine
- Birthday
- AMV BBDO
- Screenshot Media
- Red Setter
- M+C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment
- M+C Saatchi Talk
- We Are Social
- Nexer Digital
- Elmwood
- MSQ Group
- FutureBrand
- McCann UK
- The Chase
- The Chase Films
- Squad
- Say Yes
- Verse
- COMMON
- superassembly
- Lippincott
- Athletics
- Haymaker VFX
- SWISS
- Martell
- Crufts
- Royal Kennel Club
- Tommy
- ZEAL Group
- Frasers Group
- Sports Direct
- FRASERS
- FLANNELS
- Preston Spire
- Meerkat
- Colle McVoy
- Kantar
- BrandZ
- WPP
- Siegel+Gale
- FranklinTill
- The Marketing Store
- Campbell Hay
- Amplify
- Nottingham Trent University
- Craft Media London
- Project5
- WeareCrank
- BIRD London
- Toast PR
- Hiizzy
- The Outfit
- Channel 4
- DEPT
- Byte
- Dentsu
- TMW
- Sony-BMG
- Coty
- Bulletproof
- U DOX
- Ketchum London
- Bauer Media
- Livework
- Home Office
- IKEA
- Department for Education
- iZettle
- PayPal
- Defra
- Capsule Pharmacy
- Las Vegas Museum of Art
- A&O Shearman
- LeShuttle
- adidas
- Betway
- Clubhouse
- Under Armour
- SVEDKA Vodka
- Hinge
- tonies
- Alcon
- Mars
- M&S
- John Lewis
- EE
- Guinness
- Johnnie Walker
- NEXT
- Aston Martin
- LEGO
- McDonald's
- Brother
- Eurocamp
- JW Lees
- Tebay Services
- Umbro
- ZSL London Zoo
- Volvo Trucks
- Cannes Lions
- Mitchells & Butlers
- Myomaster
- Union Coffee
- Taco John's
- Medtronic
- Precision Tune Auto Care
- Polycam
- UNESCO
- Apple
- IBM
- Sky
- Red Bull
- Santander
- RAF
- IPA iList
- Women in IT Awards
- EmpowerHack
- ADWEEK
- Campaign 30 Under 30
- Creative Boom
Locations
- Manchester
- United Kingdom
- York
- London
- Stockholm
- Sweden
- Brooklyn
- New York
- United States
- Paris
- France
- Düsseldorf
- Germany
- New Zealand
- Greater Manchester
- Birmingham
- NEC Birmingham
- Château de Chanteloup
- Ghana
- Minnesota
- England