Executive-Level Shakeup at Omnicom’s Organic

By Patrick Coffee 

Organic, the San Francisco-based Omnicom-owned “Interaction Agency™,” went through a leadership change in its New York office last week as chief creative officer Chris Kelly and chief operating officer Keith Pine left the company.

A spokesperson confirmed that the two executives “are no longer part of Organic,” adding, “We wish them success in future endeavors.”

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The agency’s PR firm did not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding the departure and declined to clarify whether the agency will be seeking to fill the two positions.

Kelly and Pine did not respond to requests for comment.

Organic, which Omnicom acquired in 2003 and brought into its DAS Group just over one year ago, has seen several changes over the past six-plus months.

CEO Dave Shulman left the organization late last year, with Pine becoming acting CEO after 8 years as head of operations. Cathy Butler, who led Barbarian Group for two years, later came on to succeed Shulman.

On the new business front, Organic played a key role on the BBDO-led Omnicom team that successfully pitched for Ford’s global creative business last year.

Pine joined Organic in 2010 after holding several digitally-focused agency leadership roles, including director of digital operations at FCB New York and director of digital project management and analytics at Y&R.

Kelly served as a creative director at Wunderman; he previously co-founded and lead Ignition13, a web design agency based in Stamford, Connecticut.

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