Early today we heard that Liz Taylor would soon be leaving Ogilvy & Mather Chicago, and after bugging a few contacts we learned that she’s headed to FCB Chicago as chief creative officer.
Taylor succeeds Todd Tilford, who joined FCB Chicago in 2011, launched its in-house production studio Lord + Thomas, helped design its office space and led its creative department for five years after a stint as ECD at Grey New York working on DirecTV. During his tenure, he produced work ranging from Radio Flyer’s sentimental “Super Race Car” to Kmart’s “Ship My Pants.”
We read this news as part of global CCO Susan Credle‘s ongoing effort to reinvigorate the FCB North America network with new creative hires. Taylor starts the new job on September 15, and she will partner with Chicago president/CEO Michael Fassnacht to lead a team of 650.
In the press release, Fassnacht said, “We are excited to welcome Liz, whose relentless drive for creative excellence will help push our clients’ brands and businesses even further,” noting plans to “elevate our work.”
“I’m so honored to partner with Michael and I’m so intrigued with what’s going on at FCB,” said Taylor in a statement. “Carter, Susan and Michael all want to invigorate the FCB brand, and there’s a great deal of momentum happening with major client wins, new business opportunities, and the best Cannes performance in agency’s history. I cannot wait to help drive the creative vision for this office and am looking forward to championing brilliant ideas and mentoring the next generation of FCB Chicago’s creative leaders.”
Tilford’s future with the FCB organization is not completely clear at the moment. The release says he will “continue to work on select clients in Chicago and partner on key initiatives focusing on creative content and design,” but an agency spokesperson declined to elaborate on that role or clarify what title Tilford would hold moving forward.
Credle’s statement reads:
“Todd has played a critical role at FCB Chicago. In five years, he has elevated the work, delivered a record number of creative awards, brought in new business and established a leading-edge discipline in creative content and design. In his new role, Todd will have even more opportunity to focus on what he loves most: guiding and making the work. The CCO position will be in the talented hands of Liz Taylor. Her knowledge of and respect for our industry, her ability to beautifully articulate her point of view about work, and her pure love of creative and craft are a few of the reasons I know she will make FCB proud.”
Taylor spent four years at Ogilvy, during which time she worked on such projects as SC Johnson/Glade’s interactive “Museum of Feelings” in New York and The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence’s “Zero Minutes of Fame,” a plugin designed to scrub the names of mass killers from all web sites.
She previously worked as a creative director and freelancer at multiple Chicago shops including DDB, Element79, Razorfish, etc. after beginning her agency career as a copywriter at JWT.