The Los Angeles office of Campbell Ewald (which recently played the part of odd man out at the Lowe/Mullen merger) has named Jo Shoesmith as its new executive creative director.
Shoesmith joins Campbell Ewald after spending 15 years with the Leo Burnett organization, first in her native Australia and then at the agency’s Chicago headquarters.
In the new role, she will report directly to CCO Mark Simon, who calls her “a strong asset to our growing Los Angeles team,” writing:
“Her breadth of experience will be instrumental in delivering creative excellence to our clients.”
Those clients will include such West Coast natives as Covered California and Energy Upgrade California as well as health care giant Kaiser Permanente.
Shoesmith replaces Jim DiPiazza, who joined Campbell Ewald in the summer of 2012 after spending one year at San Francisco’s Swirl and left after two years to begin his second stint at Deutsch, which hired him to work on the Sprint account. Sources claimed that the IPG shop hired him to “invigorate” its L.A. office; no word on whether he did so during his tenure.
Campbell Ewald’s new top creative started her career at Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne and joined Leo Burnett’s nearby office in 2000 as senior art director before moving stateside in 2006 to fill the SVP/CD position in The Windy City, where she stayed for nine years.
As an art director at Leo in Chicago, Shoesmith worked on projects ranging from Allstate’s Mayhem series to the more generous “Geek the Library” advocacy campaign and Wilco’s collaboration with Delta Faucets. (Book here.)
Regarding her new gig, Shoesmith cites “the opportunity to work within a truly integrated network” and praises Campbell Ewald’s ability to “provide our clients with access to a diversified pool of expertise, all under one agency” across its North American offices.
On the Leo Burnett side, her departure follows that of CD Nuno Ferreira (72andSunny), GCD Brandon Rochon (Kastner & Partners) and, most significantly, Susan Credle (FCB).
The agency’s Chicago office also recently hired Deutsch vets Gordy and Brian to work on the McDonald’s account.