Global collective agency Sid Lee has appointed Kristian Manchester as its new global chief creative officer. Manchester will lead the creative impact across Sid Lee’s seven offices and community members Digital Kitchen, Yard, Bimm and Haigo.
Sid Lee’s co-founder, Philippe Meunier, spent his entire career in the chief creative role and is now passing the torch to Manchester, who has been with Sid Lee since 2001 and has played a crucial role in building the company’s international creative reputation.
Manchester was previously executive creative director and was instrumental in Cirque du Soleil’s global expansion and helped shape culture for many campaigns such as Adidas “House Party” and “Walls are Meant for Climbing” by The North Face.
“I’m incredibly proud to be part of Sid Lee, and we’re fundamentally about driving culture by influencing brands and empowering them to make a difference. As a collective, we have a wide range of disciplines to leverage and activate to achieve our ambition of being the best creative allies in the world,” said Manchester in a statement.
Manchester also helped shape creative for clients including Nutrafol, Sony, Hyundai Motors, Havana Club, Netflix, the Montréal Canadiens, Ubisoft, Skyn and Moët & Chandon.
“Kristian sees potential in everyone and has a unique understanding of creative talent. He has heightened our creative product and inspired and raised a generation of talents,” said Philippe Meunier, Sid Lee’s co-founder and global CEO in a statement. Meunier, who has worked alongside Manchester for over two decades, praised his embodiment of the agency’s creative culture incubator, Sid Lee Collective.
As part of his new role, Manchester will bring work with the U.S. team, led by newly appointed CEO Tom Ramsden, to drive expansion in the sports and entertainment industries.
Manchester praised Ramsden’s progressive approach to his job, stating: “Tom is an amazing and progressive human being with whom I’ve produced some of the best work of my career.”