As you may already know, the long-rumored news of a new CEO at CP+B dropped today. It’s Erik Sollenberg of Forsman & Bodenfors.
AdAge first broke the story this morning, though we’d heard murmurs of a Swedish man taking over for Lori Senecal for a couple of months. And of course we’d prefer you read the Adweek version of the story.
Anyway, Sollenberg is moving to Boulder to take over for Senecal as of January 1, and in the meantime they will serve as co-CEOs. The key takeaway there, as we see it, is that the two agencies now speak of being in a “strategic partnership” based on their shared dedication to great creative work. Make of that what you will.
The shift on the Forsman & Bodenfors side is pretty interesting too, though. The agency, which got bought up by MDC Partners more than a year ago for a few million bucks, has promoted longtime art director Silla Levin to replace Sollenberg. She starts on September 1.
Levin has been art director at F&B for more than 16 years. She also sits on its board of directors and, until the MDC acquisition, held partner status as well.
Here’s her quote:
“To take over the leadership of Forsman & Bodenfors, Sweden’s and one of the world’s most renowned agencies, is an incredible honour. It’s also a big responsibility to leverage on what has made the agency so unique and successful. My focus will be to ensure that F&B continues to deliver great creative work for our clients. I’m looking forward to continuing to develop our strong position in Sweden, while at the same time expanding our global offer and strengthening the strategic partnership with CP+B.”
You caught that last part. From Sollenberg himself:
“Silla Levin has for many years been a driving force at Forsman & Bodenfors, and I’m happy that she now takes over the leadership. Forsman & Bodenfors and CP+B have many similarities, most importantly our unwavering commitment to great creative work. I’m looking forward to my new assignment and to bring what I’ve learned at Forsman & Bodenfors into more of a global context. It’s also a chance to strengthen the strategic partnership between F&B and CP+B.”
So what will CP+B and F&B work on together? Emoji ordering for IKEA? And what will Lori Senecal do in her next life?
[Photo by Lars Ardarve]