David Opens New York Office to Better Service Major Clients

After a decade in business, Fernando Musa, the founder and chairman of David, is bringing the agency into the heart of the global advertising business: New York. "There's no other city in the world to ignite the passion for advertising," Musa told Adweek. The agency, which is named after advertising icon David Ogilvy, is opening its sixth location and second in the United States. The new office, which does not have a physical space to work out of yet, will serve multiple functions for the agency, including more face-to-face opportunities to work not only with the agency's New York-based clients, but also fellow WPP agencies. Musa hopes David will now appeal to top U.S. talent, who previously didn't have interest in relocating to Miami to work for the agency. With the New York office, David is able to better service some of its biggest clients, including AB InBev, TD Bank, which it's now the lead agency for and works on with sister agency Ogilvy, and Coca-Cola, which it receives work for under WPP's bespoke agency Open X. Partner and global CCO Pancho Cassis told Adweek that the office should make the agency faster to react to client needs and pick up more opportunities from Ogilvy and WPP. The agency is also currently defending Burger King's U.S. account, which the brand put up for review earlier this year and should wrap up soon, according to multiple sources familiar with that review. “David was born out of David Ogilvy’s pioneering spirit, one as entrepreneurial as it is creative," said Devika Bulchandani, global president of Ogilvy and CEO of Ogilvy NA. "Now we are continuing to build on that legacy as we bring David to New York." Opening a new office The agency is mulling several options for a physical location, either on the WPP campus or a spot dedicated to just David. Either way, an office is critical in Cassis' mind. "It's important because we build these human connections, and that is hard to do on a [Zoom]," Cassis said, acknowledging they'll never go back to the former ways of working, "but we're going to build places where people like to go, like to spend time and like to create relationships not only among us but with clients." After opening a handful of offices, Musa and Cassis have learned a thing or two. Entering the New York market, Musa is focusing on getting the talent right, emphasizing that the people who lead each new office need to be aligned on cultural beliefs. At the helm of David New York, which launches with 12 employees, will be Luiza Prata Carvalho, managing director, André Toledo, chief creative and Paula Vampre, global CSO. Prata Carvalho joined David Miami last year after nearly six years at Wieden+Kennedy, where she helped run the Nike account out of the Portland office. Musa said it brought Prata Carvalho to David Miami with the intention of her leading the New York office. Each of the three leaders have seen David come together or have led other offices. Vampre worked alongside Musa in Brazil 20 years ago, while Prata Carvalho worked with Musa a decade ago when David got its start. Toledo helped grow the Madrid office, which stood at just six employees before the pandemic and has grown to 62 now. Prata Carvalho said the goal for one year from now is for the New York office to follow the same trajectory as Madrid, delivering "ground-breaking work" and attracting "talent that will be the ones that we will be looking to open the next office with." David now has six offices worldwide: Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Miami, New York and São Paulo. Collectively, David has produced 11 Super Bowl spots in the past nine years, with the bulk of those coming out of its Miami office, including three in 2019 with just 46 employees.

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David Opens a New York Office to Better Service Clients Like AB InBev, Coca-Cola and TD Bank

It's the sixth location for the WPP agency

Jameson Fleming

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Jameson Fleming