Cramer-Krasselt, which remains the second largest independent agency in the U.S. behind you know who, has hired two new creative leaders in its New York office.
Molly Finley joins the indie shop as group creative director and Catherine Abbenda will be a CD.
Finley started her 20-plus year agency career working on auto accounts in Detroit before moving to Deutsch’s New York office in 1994. She worked as a copywriter and creative director at various New York-area shops including Bozell, Lowe, Roberts+Langer and McCann, joining TAXI NYC as a CD on Revlon before going full-time freelance. Throughout her career, she has worked on such brands as L’Oreal, Tanqueray, IKEA, J&J and Verizon, among many others.
At C-K, Finley will lead creative on the New York Road Runners and Ahold USA (Giant, Stop & Shop, Peapod) retail business.
Abbenda spent approximately seven years at McCann New York and Jay Advertising, the former McCann retail wing now associated with IPG experiential agency Momentum Worldwide before joining Cramer-Krasselt. While at McCann, she worked on Nikon, Ashley Furniture and Verizon FiOS; previous roles include ACD at New York’s Berenter Greenhouse & Webster (now known as BGTwo), where she led a retail team on the Bed Bath & Beyond account. In the new role, she will again work on the Nikon business, which went to C-K last October after a review and more than a dozen years with McCann.
The two new creatives will report to SVP/ECD Craig Markus, who has led the New York department since joining C-K last February (he was previously with Brooklyn’s Rage, Grace & Partners and spent over than a decade at McCann New York).