Wunderman isn’t the only New York agency to name a new chief creative officer today. This morning, principals at Grey NY announced the hiring of Andreas Dahlqvist.
Dahlqvist, who co-founded DDB Stockholm in 2004 and served as ECD/managing partner there for several years, most recently held the titles of vice chairman, McCann New York and deputy global CCO for brands within the larger McCann organization (which he joined in 2011).
He also served as global CCO at the GM-focused Commonwealth//McCann, and his name appears atop all of that agency’s latest campaigns. His most memorable AgencySpy appearance to date occurred as part of the dress-alike project “Partnerganger,” which may or may not have been inspired by the Ogilvy tumblr “Work Twinsies.”
The release tells us that the new CCO, who has won “every major creative award,” will oversee Grey’s entire 500-strong creative department. President/Worldwide CCO Tor Myhren writes:
“Few people in this industry have done what Andreas has…started his own agency from scratch and built it into the best digital agency on the planet.”
Dahlqvist will report to/work closely with Myrhen and North American CEO Michael Houston.
Memo from those two after the jump.
We are delighted to announce that Andreas Dahlqvist will be joining us as Chief Creative Officer of Grey New York.
In recent years, Grey New York has doubled in size and is on pace to achieve another year of solid financial and creative performance. Having a dedicated New York CCO will add to our creative firepower.
Andreas is a huge global talent who is going to enhance our unique creative culture. He is truly one of a kind in our industry. He has done big and epic, and he has done small and scrappy. Andreas started his own agency from scratch (DDB Sweden&Nordics) and turned it into the single best digital and interactive agency in the world, according to the Gunn Report. He has run one of the largest brands in America (Chevy) and succeeded during some of their most challenging years. Andreas is battle tested, and ideally fit to push our creative product forward into the future. Plus he’s a wonderful person, so that helps.
Most recently, he has served in a number of pivotal creative roles at McCann including President of their Creative Leadership Council and Chief Creative Officer of Commonwealth/McCann, the global business unit built for General Motors. He began at McCann New York as Vice Chairman, Executive Creative Director, leading the agency to its most awarded year ever, and went on to become Deputy Chief Creative Officer for Global Brands.
Andreas has done groundbreaking campaigns for many of the world’s premier brands including McDonald’s, General Mills, Diesel Jeans, Coca Cola, Chevrolet, Panasonic and Volkswagen whose ‘Fun Theory’ work became a viral sensation the world over. Along the way, he’s won every major creative award including Cannes Titanium and Grand Prix Lions. Not to mention a place in the Ad Age “Creativity 50,” honoring the most influential minds in the creative world.
In his new role, Andreas will oversee our 500-plus New York creative department. He will help drive our creative vision and culture, continue to recruit top talent and be a key player in new business efforts.
This guy has done the kind of work that impacts marketing and alters the way entire categories advertise. He’s universally respected and liked by clients and colleagues alike. We know he’s going to be a terrific addition to our team.
We’ll properly introduce Andreas soon. Please give him a warm welcome and your full support.
Tor and Michael