Clyde McKendrick, the former chief strategy officer of Omnicom’s sparks & honey, has joined indie behavioral insights practice Canvas8 as its U.S. managing partner and global chief innovation officer.
The appointment comes just a few days after sparks & honey announced its repositioning from a “next-generation” agency to a “technology-led cultural” consultancy, and elevated evp Camilo La Cruz to CSO.
McKendrick will be based at Canvas8’s Dumbo, Brooklyn, N.Y., office, overseeing all New York and Los Angeles operations and clients including brands Google, Miller Coors and Nike, and agencies FCB, Mother and Wieden + Kennedy.
He is tasked with leading the firm’s U.S. expansion, with a specific focus on bolstering the New York team in sales, account management and strategy. McKendrick will also be responsible for further developing Canvas8’s membership platform, which it claims to boast over 3,000 members worldwide.
“Agencies and brand marketers are desperate for deep, authentic and actionable insight that will truly motivate their audiences,” McKendrick said in a statement. “While there’s an abundance of data, you need to know how to extract the meaning from the noise. It’s the ability to understand data’s cultural context and apply a behavioral science lens that allows Canvas8 to go deeper and sets their quality of insight apart.”
Throughout his career, McKendrick has worked with brands such as Chanel, Instagram, Pepsi, Red Bull and T-Mobile, providing them with insights into cultural strategy and brand relevance, according to Canvas8.
McKendrick added, “U.S. marketers are in danger of being left behind by accelerated consumer demands” and they “need to dig deeper into resolving the anxieties customers feel about their brand choices” by focusing “obsessively on becoming human centric.”
Before sparks & honey, McKendrick held stints at Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, TBWA\Chiat\Day and WPP’s Possible. He also founded and ran his own consultancy, Zeitgeist Labs, from 2014 to January 2018. McKendrick was appointed CSO of sparks & honey in May 2017.
“With the official launch of Canvas8 in New York City, Los Angeles and Sydney, we’re now well positioned to help our clients on a global scale,” Canvas8 founder Nick Morris said in a statement. “Clyde’s appointment is integral to Canvas8’s ambition—bringing energy, innovation expertise, empathy for the advertising market and deep experience on both sides of the Atlantic.”