Anomaly has boosted its creative department in the wake of reportedly defeating incumbent 72andSunny Amsterdam, W+K Amsterdam and Lucky Generals to win the global Johnnie Walker account last month.
The agency, which already handled the U.S. portion of the account, hired Carlos Alija, Laura Sampedro, Tara Lawall and Donnell Johnson (pictured, L-R) as group creative directors. Anomaly London will lead the global Johnnie Walker account while working closely with the agency’s New York office.
Lawall joins Anomaly’s New York office from 72andSunny New York, where she worked as a creative director. Before joining 72andSunny in August of 2017, she spent five years with Droga5 as a creative director.
Johnson also joins the New York office, following nearly two years at Droga5 as a creative director and copywriter. Before that he served as a freelance copywriter and creative director for agencies including 72andSunny, CPB, McCann and BBDO.
Sampedro and Alija arrive at Anomaly London from W+K London, where they spent five years as creative directors, working with clients including Coca-Cola, Mondelez, Honda Europe and Lurpak. Before that they spent two years as executive creative directors for BMF Australia, working with clients including Expedia and Aldi.
“It’s not the name on the door, it’s the people in the building who give us permission to call ourselves Anomaly – we’ve seen it recently with the addition of Josh Fell in LA and the exciting, expanding team in London,” Anomaly founding partner, global CCO Mike Byrne said in a statement. “This new generation of thinking is going to spark a powerful revolution within our walls. This is what I love about our business.”
“Despite the complexity and the continual forces of change, we have benefited greatly from having the fundamentals absolutely right – a focus on our clients’ business challenges and an almost limitless concept of what constitutes ‘creativity’ in the modern world. We’re having a ball and see nothing but opportunity ahead,” added founding partner, executive chairman Carl Johnson.