Golay Joins Colby in L.A.

Lori Golay is not getting much of a break-in period at Colby & Partners: Her first task is to defend the estimated $20 million Activision account.

If she is successful, the new svp, account director will oversee that account, along with Paramount Domestic Television and TNN, among others, at the Santa Monica., Calif., shop.

“I like entertainment—the fast pace and the energy that seems to surround the client base,” said Golay. “I like working with a creative end-product.”

Golay arrives from J. Walter Thompson, here, where she was a senior partner and director of client services. There, she managed Fox Kids Network, ABC Family Channel and Bandai North America. Prior to that, she was senior manager of licensing and strategic alliances for Applause, a gift and toy company in Wood- land Hills, Calif., where she worked with Disney Latin America, Warner Home Video, Taco Bell and Kodak Latin America.

Golay, a golf and yoga aficionado who described herself as “interested, involved [and] enthusiastic” when it comes to her work, said “the energy of [Colby]” appealed to her. “There’s a lot of momentum here, and they have a nice client base that is very broad,” she said. (Other Colby clients include Suzuki and Wherehouse Music.)

Rick Colby, president and ecd, cited her experience running Bandai at JWT as a factor in her hiring. Golay will report to Colby and oversee about 15 employees.

The shop picked up Activision’s TV creative and media account in January from the now-defunct Los Angeles office of D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles. Colby is now defending the business in a review against BBDO West and Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners, both in San Francisco; DDB in Los Angeles; Deutsch/LA in Marina del Rey, Calif.; and an undisclosed San Francisco shop. —REBECCA FLASS