Deutsch/LA Names TBWA’s Mark Hunter CCO

Hunter, who also has held senior creative roles at the London offices of Bartle Bogle Hegarty and Euro RSCG and Wieden + Kennedy in Amsterdam, is expected to start in late January. The  46-year-old succeeds Eric Hirshberg, who became CEO of Activision Publishing in September.

Deustch/LA CEO Mike Sheldon described Hunter as a great thinker, who excels as both a creative and business leader. The recruitment began with an hour-long phone conversation six weeks ago and included a series of meetings in London, Los Angeles and Germany.

“It was five minutes into the interview and I knew he was the guy,” said Sheldon.

Hunter, who will also be a partner at the agency, said he was drawn by the ambition of Sheldon and the caliber of his clients, which include Volkswagen of America, Sony PlayStation, Dr Pepper Snapple Group (Dr Pepper, Diet Dr Pepper, Snapple) and HTC.

“I’ve been around a bit. I’ve been at some great places. I’ve been at some less-than-great places. I’ve been at independents. I’ve been at some networks,” Hunter said. “Ultimately, I want to work with nice people who want to do amazing work and who have the clients (that) allow you to do that.”

Hunter joined Omnicom Group’s TBWA\London in mid-2009, filling a vacancy left by the July 2008 exit of Steve Henry. Before TBWA, he was ecd at Havas’s Euro RSCG in London, where he worked on brands such as Evian and Citroen.

His other brand experience includes Nike—from his years as a cd at Wieden + Kennedy—and Levi’s, Audi, Lynx and Johnnie Walker—all of which he worked on at BBH.