BBH Introduces Leadership Trio in New York

BBH New York unveiled a new leadership team that nods to the agency's founding. The agency promoted Tom Callard to chief strategy officer, joining recently hired president Amani Duncan and chief creative officer Rafael Rizuto. Callard's promotion follows the departure of BBH global CSO and New York chair Sarah Watson last November. Duncan joined BBH in the fall of 2020, coming from ViacomCBS, where she was MTV’s svp, music. Rizuto became CCO of BBH NY last April, following the departure of Gerard Caputo for Wieden+Kennedy New York, while Callard was just promoted to CSO from head of planning. "With Tom Callard’s promotion from head of planning to CSO being made today, now is the perfect time to introduce the full team, which has been collaborating for the past six months," Rizuto told Adweek. These Ad Veterans Are Trying to Shake Up the Agency Model With the Launch of TBD An equal partnership While having a president, CSO and CCO serve as a tight-knit team might seem out of the norm for an agency, Callard pointed out that BBH was founded by a strategist, an account person and a creative (Bartle, Bogle and Hegarty). “Since then, we have always built teams around an equal partnership between those disciplines. To deliver strategic creative ideas that sell, we need that 'three-legged stool.' We each bring our own craft skills, but are all there for the same purpose—to get the most disruptive, effective and memorable creative work into the world,” Callard told Adweek. Before ViacomCBS, Duncan was head of brand marketing for Martin Guitars, and before that was CMO of Sean Combs' Bad Boy Worldwide. Duncan also serves on the 4A's board of directors and is a 2021 Cannes Entertainment Lions for Music awarding jury member. "BBH NY believes in the power of difference, and the leadership team exemplifies exactly that," Duncan told Adweek. "We are all from different countries, with different backgrounds, so we all bring a unique perspective. But while we may look different, we share a deep alignment around our core values of empathy, enthusiasm and honesty." Callard, who took on the head of planning role in April 2019, was previously at BBH London, and also served as group strategy director at 72andSunny where he led strategy on Marcus by Goldman Sachs, Spotify Premium, Smirnoff and Autotrader. With nearly two decades of experience and more than 250 international awards, Rizuto was previously founder and CCO at TBD. Before that, he held creative positions at 180LA, Pereira O’Dell and Ogilvy Brasil. An immediate impact "Amani, Rafa and Tom have made an immediate impact," BBH global CEO Neil Munn said in a statement. "We're excited by the incredible momentum and are thrilled to formally announce Amani’s role as president and Tom’s as CSO of BBH NY." Callard, Duncan and Rizuto helped the agency reignite its Google partnership in New York and continue to grow the Samsung business. The trio’s most recent work together includes "Glass Ceiling Breaker," an empowering art installation honoring Vice President Kamala Harris; the launch of Google's Black Owned Friday; the release of Marvel’s Avengers video game with "Superior Seminars"; and Samsung's "Work is Better With Play." The agency has already earned four International Andy Awards for Google’s Black Owned Friday and "Glass Ceiling Breaker," in partnership with Chief (a think tank for women leaders, of which Duncan is a founding member) and the National Women’s History Museum.