- Brian Morrissey

NEW YORK Digital agency EVB added some traditional creative heft with the addition of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners' Stephen Goldblatt as executive creative director.
 
Goldblatt, 36, replaced Jason Zada, who has left EVB to pursue a video-directing career. At Goodby, Goldblatt was a group creative director, working on "The Slowskys" campaign for Comcast and "The computer is personal again" series for Hewlett-Packard.
 
"EVB has approached a lot of projects with a digital eye," Goldblatt said. "What I want to do is approach projects holistically from traditional to digital."
 
The hire is part of an effort by Omnicom Group-backed EVB to continue its evolution into a full-service creative agency. Like many shops in the digital space, its roots are in interactive production, building Web sites for agencies like Crispin Porter + Bogusky. In past years, EVB has moved to become an agency of its own right, working nearly exclusively with its own client list.
 
That's afforded EVB an opportunity to move beyond interactive projects to broader marketing initiatives. Its campaigns for Major League Soccer and Adidas, for instance, have included several forms of media. EVB created a campaign for Levi's 501 jeans this summer that included the Web and print elements.
 
"We're not pitching against Organic and Tribal and Critical Mass anymore," said Daniel Stein, CEO of EVB. "More and more, all agencies are striving to be digital agencies. We needed someone who was going to take this place to the next level. We needed someone who understood taking brands and creating experiences in all media."
 
Zada decided to leave EVB to pursue a career in directing. He is not currently repped by a production company. Zada served as the director on several EVB projects, including efforts for Levi's, JC Penney and Kodak.
 
"TV looks now like the Internet and the Internet is like TV," he said. "I'm excited to be in the middle of that."

Goldblatt's hire is something of a turnabout for EVB, which has seen several staffers depart for Goodby in recent years.
 
"I started looking at digital creative directors," Stein said. "The more I talked to the digital creative directors and looked at the type of work we're doing, it felt like I needed to broaden it."
 
Goldblatt, who trained as an art director, spent seven years at Goodby, joining in 2001 after three years at Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners. His other industry experience includes stops at BBDO and DDB.
 
"I'm anxious to have the opportunity to influence the creative output of an agency," he said. "I think as far as agencies go, good ideas are coming from anywhere -- big or small. With the clients they have there's an opportunity to do more work for their clients and show EVB can come up with great ideas."