Sources familiar with the matter tell us that a few notable creatives at Publicis & Hal Riney have put in their notice at the agency over the past two weeks. Among them are creative director Adam Koppel, who in the past has worked as an ACD/copywriter on U.S. Cellular campaigns at Riney before getting promoted to CD.
In addition, we’ve been told that ACDs Rikesh Lal (left) and Justin Kramm have also given notice. Both creatives had two tours of duty at Riney, first as art director and copywriter, respectively from 2007-2009, during which time they were involved with campaigns including the Cyber Gold Lion-winning “AAA Town” and the 2008 redesign of the agency’s website. After leaving for brief stints at Tribal DDB Amsterdam, the creative duo returned to Publicis & Hal Riney in April 2010 to assume the roles of ACDs. From what we’ve been told by our sources, all three creatives are leaving to freelance (because that’s so hot right now, apparently). We’ll hopefully get some official confirmation on the departures as the day/week progresses.
Update: It looks like it’s all on good terms as Publicis & Hal Riney says, “Yes, we can confirm that they’ve decided to go freelance, and we fully support them. They’re all incredibly talented creatives who will do amazing work anywhere and everywhere.”