Partner and executive creative director Scott Vitrone will leave Barton F. Graf to pursue other endeavors.
His creative partner Ian Reichenthal (the Daryl Hall to his John Oates or vice versa) will remain with the agency. This move ends a longtime creative partnership that began at W+K back in 1999, where the pair worked together on Nike. Barton F. Graf declined to comment, but sources close to the matter confirmed Vitrone’s pending departure from the agency.
Vitrone joined Barton F. Graf, along with Reichenthal, in November of 2013, arriving from W+K New York, where the pair served as co-executive creative directors. The appointment saw them reunite with Gerry Graf, who they worked under while at TBWA\Chiat\Day New York. At that shop, the duo focused primarily on the Mars account, including the Cannes Lion-winning “Sheep Boys” campaign for Skittles and “Man Mom” for Combos. At W+K New York, they launched the “Whatever’s Comfortable” brand repositioning campaign for Southern Comfort.
At Barton F. Graf, Vitrone worked across all accounts, including Little Caesar’s, Unilever, Kayak, Dish Network and Finlandia. Vitrone and Reichenthal also spent nearly three years at Y&R New York and, in addition to the aforementioned brands, have worked with Heineken, ESPN, Xerox and LG, among others.
The reasons for the split are not clear at this time, and Vitrone has not announced any post-Barton plans.