Vince Engel, co-president and executive creative

Vince Engel, co-president and executive creative director at Leagas Delaney in San Francisco, isn't eager to take full credit for much of anything. An assistant swings by his sunny corner office in a con verted chicken slaughterhouse on Battery Street and he comments, "She's the one really running this place." Whenever work from his ample portfolio is mentioned, he's quick to mention all departments involved—showering praise where praise is due, as he would say. Engel has approached his job at the $80 million shop, which he joined six months ago, with the same egalitarian attitude. The mantra of the 5-year-old agency these days is "Think like a start-up," he says: No job is above or below any one of the 42-person staff. "We're lean and mean right now," he says, referring to the aftermath of this year's layoffs and complete management turnover. "We're telling everyone to hang in there. It will be worth it in the new year."Engel is already making good on that promise. The agency has just shored up a deal with Virgin Mobile—which it has not yet announced officially—to handle the launch of the company's cellular service in the U.S., an estimated $60 million account. Engel's relationship with Virgin began at Lowe Lintas & Partners, San Francisco, where he was executive creative director for just over a year before the agency shut down in May. Engel joined Leagas the following month, and the shop began working with the client on a project basis shortly thereafter.Lowe was Engel's first experience serving as head agency creative, and it was not an entirely positive one. The position, he says, "was a little different than the bill of goods I was sold." What he learned was to "investigate the whole situation and better understand what a job entails before signing on." Client conflicts with the headquarters in New York ultimately stunted a good deal of work. But Engel will say that he gained valuable insight into management practices and office politics. One of the primary lessons he's taken to Leagas is to keep an open dialogue with his staff. "We talk about the good, but need to be mature enough to talk about the bad news, too," he says.The 49-year-old world traveler began his advertising career in Los Angeles, but soon ended up in Australia, where he spent 10 years as an art director for shops including Ogilvy & Mather and Chiat Day Mojo, on brands such as American Ex press, Quantas and Toyota. In 1991, a call from David Kennedy led him to back to the U.S. During his nine-year ten ure at Wieden + Ken nedy in Portland, Ore., where he was creative director, Engel produced award-winning work for Nike, Miller Brewing Co. and ESPN, among others. Engel's work is the kind you remember, says copywriter Jae Good man, who worked with Engel at both Wieden and Lowe Lintas. Goodman will be joining Leagas as associate creative director next month, rounding out a creative department of 10—eight of whom are under the age of 30. Despite his salt-and-pepper hair, Engel conveys a youthful exuberance that suits his relaxed, surfer-esque demeanor. His modesty fits into that low-key vibe. He's won almost every creative award in the business, but the trophies are stashed in a box in the corner of his office—and the only reason they're there at all is because his 14-year-old son needed space in the garage for a science project. Engel's low-profile personality has helped make his move from Lowe to Leagas relatively kink-free. With the departure of the respected and well-liked creative directors Harry Cocciolo and Sean Ehringer, Engel faced quite a challenge. Leagas' roster has remained intact through the transition, though client spending on accounts like Red Envelope and Blue Nile has declined. Agency staffers appear confident in the shop's new leadership (co-president and managing director Wayne Buder arrived in mid-September from neighboring shop Odiorne Wilde Narraway & Partners). "With these two guys' reputations and careers preceding them, there's no way you could turn your nose up at them," says Leagas copywriter Ned Brown-Sterns, who has been with the agency since 1999. Associate creative director Christopher Toland, who has worked at the shop for four years, adds, "There's a sense of family here. It's always been that way. Wayne and Vince were able to still maintain that feeling—they have embraced it and accepted it." Clients agree that the management shift has been smooth. Claire Sherwood, vp of sales and marketing at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, says that while the former managers were a main reason the agency was tapped last year, the new team "hasn't missed a beat." Stacey Kerr, senior product manager at Sega of America, says Sega has been happy with the work Leagas has produced since Engel came on board—most recently for the new NHL 2K2 hockey game—but adds that the company "hasn't really thought about" planning beyond next year.Bob Maggiore, global marketing manager for Adidas Golf, a client of four years, says, "You go into any new relationship with hesitation, but the transition has been seamless." Engel recently oversaw the production of a $4 million national campaign for Adidas Golf, due in the spring, that features professional players Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els and Natalie Gulbis. "[En gel] was behind the scenes working up a sweat the entire time," says Maggiore. "He was as integral as any creative director we've ever had." Maggiore, however, declines to speculate on Adidas Golf's relationship with Leagas—which also handles the Adidas Latin America account—beyond the current effort. In the past, additional work for the global Adidas account, which sources say is in review, has been handled out of the Leagas headquarters in London. Engel and Buder say they were both aware that the Adidas relationship was shaky when they signed on with the shop. "We're taking the approach that there may not be anything," Engel says of the Adidas business. The London office is pitching the estimated $80-100 million global account in partnership with DDB Worldwide. Even with that account in flux, Leagas has plans to open a second U.S. office, in New York, next March. Engel, too, remains confident. "We've got some new-business wins that are pending," he says. The shop is continuing to branch out and pitch business across a variety of verticals, Engel notes. He says Leagas has been vying for the creative portion of the $25 million 24 Hour Fitness account, as well as an undisclosed piece of new business for Toyota. The shop has also been doing preliminary work for RealNetworks, an Internet media delivery company, on a project basis.Looking ahead, Engel says he intends to maintain the standard of creativity that Tim Delaney started back in 1980 when he opened Leagas in London. "We are going to continue on with that excellence and commitment and not try to fix something that's not broken," he says. "Because of the economy, things have changed, but we're still going to take it to the next level and improve on what's here."

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Vince Engel, co-president and executive creative

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