Chobani appointed Leland Maschmeyer as its first chief creative officer, following the announcement last May that the brand was moving away from the AOR model to pursue “more in-house and project-based agency partners” following its parting ways with former AOR Droga5 that March. Maschmeyer will oversee all creative work for Chobani, as the brand seeks to find a balance between in-house work and working with agencies on a project basis, reporting to Chobani chief marketing and brand officer Peter McGuinness.
“He’s a very sound strategic thinker, which I like,” McGuiness told Adweek. “He’s an amazing creative person and creative thinker. He’s got great design instincts. These are all qualities and traits that we love at Chobani and hold in high regard.”
Maschmeyer describes himself on his website as “the chief creative officer and founding partner of Collins,” writing, “Through a systems thinking lens, he redesigns brands and their customer experiences.”
He co-founded the brand consultancy, whose clients include Coca-Cola, Facebook, Spotify, Instagram and Target, at the beginning of 2008, originally serving as creative director. He was elevated to executive creative director in September of 2011 and CCO this past December. Prior to Collins, he spent nearly three and a half years as a senior strategist with McKinney, working with clients including Travelocity, Virgin Atlantic, NASDAQ and Qwest. He also teaches MFA-level design classes at New York’s School of Visual Arts and spent the past two years serving on the board of directors for professional design association AIGA.
“Chobani stands in a rare class of companies that has the ambition to impact culture, the craftsmanship to produce admired products, the proven ability to fearlessly innovate, and the foresight to put design at the heart of all it does,” Maschmeyer said in a statement. “That’s why it’s iconic and beloved by millions. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help a company of this stature transform into a leading natural food company.”
Maschmeyer’s appointment follows Sprint, which also decided to take more of its advertising in-house last year, tasking PR veteran Christopher Ian Bennett with leading its in-house agency, Yellow Fan Studios, as executive creative director in May.