Campbell Ewald Hires 2 New CCOs

Campbell Ewald welcomed a pair of new creative leaders, ushering in a new creative phase following the agency's rebranding last year. The agency hired Silmo Bonomi and Clarence Bradley as co-CCOs. In the roles, Bonomi and Bradley will be tasked with overseeing creative and production across Campbell Ewald's Detroit, Los Angeles and New York offices. "We were not initially looking for two CCOs, but along our journey, we met both Clarence and Silmo. They didn’t know each other, but they shared a vision for building a strong culture at the agency and for creating impactful and relevant work for clients," Campbell Ewald CEO Kevin Wertz said in a statement. "Pair that with their complementary skills sets, and we got a duo that’ll positively shape the face of Campbell Ewald and our clients for years to come." Bonomi explained that his focus on craft and digital, paired with Bradley's expertise as a storyteller made for a winning combination. "By the time we started talking we figured that partnership could really work," he said. Bonomi is an agency veteran of over two decades. He most recently spent four years as an executive creative director for VMLY&R New York, working across clients including AMC Network, Campari, Colgate-Palmolive, the International Olympic Committee, Johnson & Johnson and New Balance. He also spent four years as executive creative director for Y&R's São Paulo office, working across clients including Amazon, Expedia, Ford, Kimberly-Clark, Netflix, Nike and PayPal, before joining New York's Red Fuse Communications as an ecd in 2014. Bradley arrives at Campbell Ewald with years of experience as a copywriter and creative director across a variety of agencies. Most recently, he spent around six months as a creative director with VaynerMedia. Throug a career that spans two decades, he has worked for agencies and brands including Apple, BBDO New York, Fallon, The Martin Agency, McCann New York and W+K London. Bradley has worked on campaigns for clients including Century 21, Lexus, Planet Fitness, Under Armour and Verizon. Over the last four years, "Campbell Ewald has taken the time and spent the necessary resources to look at their own culture and say, 'If we're going to reflect society, we’re going to need to make changes internally to do that.' By the time we were approached, you could see the work had taken place," Bradley told Adweek. "What we found at Campbell Ewald is a place where that work has already happened and is evolving. We believe that's something that will make our leadership stronger and create work representative of the country." Bradley explained that one aspect of Campbell Ewald's cultural evolution was its approach to talent retention. "I was really shocked to hear how Campbell Ewald was going about finding talent, especially in the creative department. They're not [just] looking for people with degrees and pedigree, they're looking for talented creative people—something my mentors have been talking about for years," he said. "You can't go through the same channels to find creative talent. You need to go through other channels to tap into communities where there's someone who maybe has never heard of ad school, but has all the talent in the world. Campbell Ewald has put together programs to find those kids, bring them in and give them opportunities." Bonomi and Bradley fill a vacancy left with the departure of Jo Shoesmith, who joined Amazon earlier this year. Shoesmith had been CCO for Campbell Ewald since 2016, when she took over for Mark Simon as he retired after 16 years with the agency. Wertz said in a statement that Shoemith was an "integral part" of Campbell Ewald's leadership team over the past five years, "from creating signature work for our clients to designing a new look and feel for our own brand." Bonomi and Bradley explained they see the contemporary role of the CCO as providing vision for the creative team and its clients, as well as overseeing and curating the work of a diverse team of creative talent. "You have to have diversity of all kinds of people, across culture, ages and experience," Bonomi said. "The work has to represent the culture we live in."

Leadership & Talent

Campbell Ewald Hires Pair of CCOs

Silmo Bonomi and Clarence Bradley are the agency's new creative leaders

Erik Oster

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Erik Oster