In case you needed further proof that Grey New York has fully embraced the group creative director title, the agency has appointed yet another pair to the position this week, namely Elaine McCormick and Fran Sheff-Mauer (pictured l-r). The creative duo has been working together for over a quarter-century and for the past several years at Grey NY, picking up Cannes Lions, One Show prizes and Effies along the way. As if you even have to ask at this point, yes, we’ve obtained the memo sent to staff from you know who that offers some insight into the agency’s latest GCDs as well as their remit. Maybe we should just create a separate tips box at this point. Anyhow, check it out if you’d like after the jump.
“Fran Sheff-Mauer and Elaine McCormick have made quite an impact over the past six years at Grey. They’ve won Gold EFFIES, Silver Cannes Lions, Brass Knuckles, One Show Interactive Pencils, and if you ask them, they should have won the highly coveted Heroic Failure Award for their role in the “Cat Poop Under The Table” incident during the Litter Genie pitch. They’ve won new business, done Super Bowl spots, had YouTube viral hits, and launched a product affectionately known as “Sex Wipes”. And the most impressive part is they’ve done it all on very tough businesses, in categories that rarely win awards, with brands that aren’t traditionally known for their heroic risk taking.Fran and Elaine have been running the entire Energizer business, including Playtex tampons, Playtex Baby, Hawaiian Tropic, Banana Boat, Wet Ones, Fresh + Sexy and Litter Genie. But my favorite work from them was for Penguin Books, with a campaign for a teen novel called ’13 Reasons Why’. This entirely digital campaign exploded across the social media landscape, and propelled a book that wasn’t even a top 100 seller in it’s first year, into the #3 spot on the New York Times Best Seller list within a few months of the campaign launching. It also won a Silver Lion at Cannes, our first Cyber Lion ever.
What’s most exciting is the group these new GCDs will run. They do tough assignments better than anyone. Good thing, because they’ll be tasked with:
1. Helping make people proud to turn 50 with AARP.
2. Making us all look young and beautiful with GSK Skincare brands Physiogel and Stiefel.
3. Overseeing the entire Allergan portfolio, including Juvederm, Voluma, and Botox. Yes, Botox. It’s now up to Fran and Elaine to convince every man, woman and child that they need a monthly injection in their forehead.
Fran’s from New York, lives in Connecticut with her husband and one daughter, and does a ton of pro bono design work on the side. Elaine was raised in Ohio and lives in Westchester with her husband and two kids. In her spare time she volunteers for US-Africa Children’s Fellowship, The Pelham Art Center and the Pelham Children’s Center.I don’t think there’s a dynamic duo in this building better suited to take all these brands to new heights of famous and effective. Please come down to 2 and whisper sweet congratulatory nothings in their ear. They have more than earned this big promotion.
Tor.”