MullenLowe U.S. has promoted two agency leaders to the president role for the east and west coast while also adding a new chief culture officer role to the agency.
Javier Passerieu has been promoted from managing director to president of MullenLowe West, while Jordan Muse has been hired as president of MullenLowe East, moving over from The Martin Agency. Kelly Fredrickson was promoted from president of MullenLowe Boston to chief culture officer, a first for the agency.
“Innovation is fuel for growth,” Kristen Cavallo, CEO of MullenLowe Global said in a statement. “We need great leaders who are empowered to push boundaries so we can continue to offer strategic business and brand solutions for our clients that go beyond what is expected. I’m confident that Kelly, Jordan and Javi will complement and accelerate our vision.”
Fredrickson steps into the newly created role after a five-year stint leading MullenLowe Boston. As chief culture officer, Fredrickson will look to foster a culture at the agency that encourages inquisitiveness, positive dissatisfaction, creativity, experimentation and risk taking. Since the agency encourages clients to innovate and differentiate themselves from their competition, Fredrickson will ensure the agency leads by example.
Fredrickson was named one of Boston magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and a Boston Business Journal Power 50. Her leadership helped land MullenLowe in the top five on both the Effie and WARC U.S. effectiveness rankings, and she modernized the agency by championing the growth of both the social and behavioral sciences capabilities.
Fredrickson was pivotal in the launch of a first-of-its-kind “Momternship” program designed to bring mothers back to the workforce. She also created a speaker series called “Stoking Curiosity” to spark creative collisions virtually, and championed the agency’s five ERGs to build communities on their own terms.
Muse, executive partner at the Martin Agency, is taking the role of president of MullenLowe East. He will partner with executive creative director Tim Vaccarino and head of strategy Ellie Gogan-Tilstone to elevate the creative output across the offices’ clients, including KFC, Navy Federal Credit Union, USGA, E*Trade, Scotts, JAMRS, Bayer and Banner Health. Muse will continue to lead Geico at the Martin Agency as executive partner and will oversee MullenLowe’s relationship with the brand, since it became a social partner earlier this year.
Muse spent the last five years at Martin and a decade at Wieden+Kennedy. He was behind award-winning campaigns including Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” Nike’s 2016 Olympic basketball campaign, and “Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony” for Buffalo Wild Wings. He was inducted into the AAF Advertising Hall of Achievement the same year his father, advertising visionary Jo Muse, was inducted to the Hall of Fame.
Cavallo also promoted managing director Passerieu to president of MullenLowe West. Under his direction, the agency went through a business and creative transformation, helping Corona return to growth, repositioning the global Grey Goose business, contributing to Acura’s most effective campaign to date and elevating Patrón to a premium tequila brand. Prior to moving to the U.S., Passerieu spent three years as global business director for Unilever at MullenLowe London. During his 19-year career building brands and teams on three continents, he also led award-winning work for Coca-Cola, Sony, Axe/Lynx, Absolut Vodka and Whole Foods Market.
As president, Passerieu will continue to partner with executive creative directors Laura Sampedro and Carlos Alija and head of strategy Kristina Jenkins, who joined the agency earlier this year.
These announcements come off the back of MullenLowe being named Agency of the Year at the One Show’s Art Directors Club, picking up six Effie Awards, and launching its global rebrand with a reimagined octopus and a point of view on how brands need to innovate and change to grow.