It looks like VW’s “The Force” has compelled rival agencies to pluck more than one creative from the Deutsch LA team who was behind the award-winning Super Bowl spot. Following in the footsteps of the campaign’s senior copywriter David Povill, who left Deutsch for W+K last April, EVP/group creative director/copywriter Eric Springer has now also jumped ship to join Santa Monica’s Pitch as chief creative officer. Springer spent a dozen years at Deutsch and from the looks of it, he will oversee, among other things, Pitch’s now-expanded duties on the Burger King account (the agency won BK’s youth/family AOR duties, if you recall, back in summer 2010). During his career, Springer has worked at the likes TBWA\Chiat\Day, DDB and Hal Riney.
Besides “The Force,” Springer also worked on “Black Beetle” for VW and served as a GCD on HTC and Cici’s Pizza efforts during his later years at Deutsch. Now at Pitch, as one can expect, the new CCO will be in charge of overseeing creative work, helping lead new business development efforts and recruiting staff.
Update: So, Springer sent us a note on what attracted him to Pitch. Read on after the jump, verbatim.
“The agency’s recent growth and 5 year strategy demanded a larger minded creative department, lead by the newly created role of CCO to stand shoulder to shoulder with Jon [Banks], Kim [Tomsen] and Rachel [Spiegelman] (the other partners) and grow Pitch’s creative reputation and client roster.
I have always loved the smaller agency feel. A ‘think tank’ where you feel your voice is heard and I have the daily interaction with all involved. This is what attracted me most to Pitch. And will attract fresh talent and big brained clients seeking the same. Pitch isn’t an ad factory, but rather an idea factory, lead by smart people asking the questions that no one else is asking. Which, over their few short years, has lead them to ideas like ‘Simpsonize me’ for BK. And a few other ideas that are in the oven still that I can’t talk to at the moment.
Pitch is really something I’ve been looking forward to doing for a number of years. I’m just [too] cheap to use my own money to do it on my own. It’s nice to have the business minds and the financial backing already in place, instead of looking for those partners to fill those roles.
I’m really looking forward to working with a group of folks that share my passion for this crazy business.”