Digital Creative Shop Red Snags Droga5 Vet as New Head of Strategy

Red, a digital creative agency owned by Ariel Emanuel's entertainment-focused holding group Endeavor, announced the hiring of Dan Neumann as its first head of strategy, effective immediately. Neumann most recently spent six years as a group strategy director at Droga5, in which Endeavor also holds a minority stake. (Endeavor was formerly known as WME | IMG.) Neumann will report to Red CEO Nick Phelps, another longtime Droga5 executive who served as the agency's global head of entertainment before leaving for Red in October. In his role, Neumann will be charged with "developing an impact-focused strategy discipline" within the agency, according to a related press release. "Helping take Red to the next level is a great opportunity," Neumann said in a statement. "There have been some exciting changes already and they're clearly poised for rapid growth, so it's great to play a role in driving that." Neumann comes to Red with 12 years of experience in the industry, having served as senior digital strategist at Wieden + Kennedy New York before joining Droga5. Throughout his career, Neumann has worked with brands such as American Express Travel, Blizzard Entertainment, Coke Zero, T-Mobile and Tencent Games. [kickout id="1"] In addition to Neumann's appointment, Red also recently promoted Roni Sebastian to executive creative director and Emily Zaborniak to group creative director; they previously held group creative director and freelance creative director roles, respectively. Sebastian will now be responsible for guiding the vision of cross-discipline teams while Zaborniak will oversee multiple client accounts, guide the creative team and lead cultural initiatives such as the Red Women's Group, which is a program for female employees to network with each other and address any gender-related concerns they have with leadership. "We're committed to making significant investments in our clients' businesses by bringing in top-tier talent and elevating the rising stars within our ranks," Phelps said in a statement. "Our clients will benefit greatly from the experience and expertise Dan will provide as our new head of strategy, as well as the passion and creative integrity consistently delivered by Emily and Roni. As we continue to focus on innovative creative work beyond all else, we are lucky to have the backing of Endeavor and support of Droga5." Donny Makower, Red president, added, "Dan, Emily and Roni embody Red's core values and bring new perspective to our leadership team as we continue to grow and evolve." Red's parent company, Endeavor, was formed in October after onetime conglomerate WME | IMG (which formed when the William Morris agency acquired IMG in 2014) decided to separate some of its assets. Organizations under Endeavor's umbrella now include WME, IMG, the mixed martial arts organization UFC, The Miss Universe Organization, international art fair organizer Frieze, as well as Red and Droga5, which agreed to sell a 49 percent stake to WME | IMG in 2013. As co-members of the Endeavor family, a Red spokesperson said Droga5 and Red actively support each other when need be.