- Adweek Staff

NEW YORK James Fox has joined Omnicom Group's BBDO in New York to head planning on AT&T, one of the agency's flagship accounts.

Fox, 34, will serve as evp, planning director, and he begins the assignment this week following a stint as chief strategic officer at Taxi in New York.

Troy Ruhanen, evp, managing director at BBDO North America, said in a statement: "James is all about ideas -- big ideas that can then be [permuted] in any shape or form. He is an exceptional talent, someone with great instincts and insights."

Mike Teasdale, who has helmed planning on AT&T, returns to his native U.K. and will work closely with BBDO Europe CEO William Eccleshare.

"Bringing James on board also gives us an opportunity to move Mike back to the U.K. on a full-time basis -- a place he has been commuting to and from over the past five years," Ruhanen said. "Now we get to apply his prescient skills elsewhere in the network." (Teasdale's exact role and title moving forward have not been determined.)

Prior to Taxi, Fox held planning posts at Fallon in New York and Minneapolis and BBH in New York.

BBDO is the lead consumer agency for AT&T, handling wireless products and services such as U-verse and GoPhone, among others.