Today KBS appointed creative vets Jonathan Mackler and Dan Kelleher to share CCO duties.
The announcement marks the latest development in a larger staffing shift in which president/CCO Ed Brojerdi assumes the CEO role and his soon-to-be-former partner Izzy Debellis leaves KBS for an unspecified creative position.
Kelleher most recently held the ECD title at Grey New York, and his name appears on this week’s Manning Brothers DirecTV spot. In Mackler’s case, the announcement comes almost exactly a year after he officially parted ways with TBWA\Chiat\Day, where he served as CD for nearly five years; he worked with Figliulo and Partners in the interim.
Mackler prevously held creative/art director positions at BBDO, W+K and Martin while Kelleher directed creative at Saatchi and worked with his new co-CCO at BBDO.
Brojerdi cites the pair’s Super Bowl experience in explaining the strategy behind the move, telling AdAge that he wants the agency to grow more specialized and saying that “at heart, we are a creative agency. Great CEOs always need creative solutions for problem-solving.”