L.A.-based creative company Omelet has signed Grant Holland–former group creative director at 72andSunny–as its new chief creative officer. He begins working at the shop’s Culver City office on Monday.
Holland had most recently led creative on the Starbucks, Anheuser-Busch and Tillamook accounts for the West Coast shop. He replaces Sarah Anderson, who was promoted to become the agency’s first chief creative officer in February of 2014 after serving as an ACD and creative director for more than three years. She left Omelet in July and appears to have relocated to Portland.
The release tells us that Holland will help Omelet achieve “accelerated growth in 2016” while also driving creative on Walmart, AT&T, Microsoft and other accounts.
As part of the move, Shannon McGlothin–a veteran of Leo Burnett, CP+B, W+K and Deutsch who joined Omelet just over a year ago as its newest GCD–has also been promoted to the executive creative director position.
Regarding his new employer, Holland says:
“Omelet is a fierce contender in the agency business. They’ve got some impressive creative chops and strategic horsepower. But what I really love is their passion to try stuff, to innovate, and to have fun doing it. It’s a great team of makers and doers, and I’m excited to see what we create next.”
The new CCO, who brings two decades of agency experience to the gig, held top creative positions at 180LA, Team One, Ogilvy and Ground Zero in addition to freelancing for TBWA\Chiat\Day, Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis.
Don Kurz, the Omelet chairman and CEO who commented on a lawsuit filed by/against co-founder and former chief content officer Steven Amato in April, praised Holland’s experience in a statement:
“Omelet has always been a place for creative, smart and passionate people to flourish and we’re thrilled to have Grant joining our ranks. With his strong background in creative strategy, writing, business development and client service, he will be an outstanding addition to the company’s leadership team.”
Co-founder and chief brand officer Ryan Fey adds, “Since the beginning, Omelet has always hired for the person, not just for the job,” calling Holland “an immediate fit” and predicting that he will be “very influential in shaping Omelet’s future and having a blast along the way.”
The reasons behind this move are not clear at the moment, though it’s worth noting that MDC Partners did recently buy the 49 percent of the 72andSunny organization that it did not already own. Famed “Epic Split” copywriter Martin Ringqvist also left the agency last month.
In other 72andSunny news, we hear that the agency’s head of PR Jeff Sweat has left to pursue other opportunities–and we wish him the best.