Roald Van Wyk Is Berlin Cameron’s New Creative Chief

Two weeks after willingly handing his CEO role over to Matt Ryan, the chairman of Berlin Cameron United (and the global United Network), he is likewise shedding day-to-day management of the New York shop's creative department. Assuming that role is Roald van Wyk, a creative director on accounts such as Stolichnaya, Capital One 360 and Gilt.com.

Van Wyk, a South African who joined the WPP Group agency in June, becomes ecd with oversight of about 16 creative staffers. Before Berlin Cameron, the 35-year-old creative leader was a group cd at Draftfcb, working on Nivea, Oreo, Jamaica Tourism and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Van Wyk's ascension coincides with Berlin Cameron’s drive to raise its profile and more aggressively pursue new business. On that front, the shop has just added lead creative responsibilities on video-sharing platform Vimeo after a review.

Previously, Vimeo created its own ads and used agencies on a project basis. In making the hire, Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor cited shared values with Berlin Cameron. The other finalists for the business could not be ascertained.

In recent years, Cameron has functioned as a hybrid leader, with his hands in everything from brand strategies and ad campaigns to agency operations. The hiring of Ryan and promotion of van Wyk give him a chance to focus primarily on growing the business.

“There has been a little bit of me wearing many hats the last couple of years, and I think the limitations of that have been apparent,” Cameron said dryly. “I’m slowing giving up the territories.”

In its heyday, Berlin Cameron had a more classic structure: Cameron was CEO, Andy Berlin was chairman and Jon Steel was vice chairman. The results were impressive. The shop landed significant accounts like Coke Classic and Pfizer’s Zyrtec and, in 2003, became Adweek’s U.S. Agency of the Year. But after Berlin left and Steele returned to a WPP role, Cameron became a jack-of-all-trades. Now, he hopes to be a master of one: revenue growth.