Booms & Shakes: Why August’s hires and launches might suggest the worst is behind us

In our monthly celebration of all that’s happening across the creative world, we explore the biggest movers, shakers and launches. And the big takeaway? Things are looking up.

As the editor of Creative Boom, I get to chat with so many founders and leaders. For a long while, they’ve been telling me how quiet it’s been. That the last 18 months have been god-awful for cash flow and investments.

Which is why I am so happy to share August’s Booms & Shakes. It seems things are looking up. I’m getting a sense we might be over the worst of it. Touch wood. And if Andy Burnham does the right thing and gives us some solid business confidence next month, I think we might be okay.

We started this monthly column last September for two reasons. One, to support the hardworking PR side of the industry. (I spent many years in marketing and understand the challenge of securing media coverage for clients, so I wanted to help.) And two, to celebrate the industry and all of its positive news. Because we all need some optimism right now.

I won’t bore you with the usual “AI is having its impact”. We all know what’s happening. I am, however, seeing a shift. Looking through all the press releases and email pitches this week, one thing stands out: for all the doom and gloom people are spouting, an awful lot of agencies and studios are getting on with the job.

We’re seeing new chief execs step into exciting new roles. Independent studios are joining forces to take on new sectors. And, even better, there are loads of new hires and promotions. This isn’t a sign of decay… It’s perhaps the beginning of another boom I’ve been predicting. I think, in fact, we’re potentially facing one of the biggest waves of creativity since the digital revolution. And on that note, let’s get stuck in.

Hires and Promotions

Forever makes some key hires

Forever, the global collective of creative studios including FutureDeluxe, Tendril, Builders Club, Found and Trizz, has appointed Carolyn Taylor as VP of client partnerships. She joins from Monks, where she was group business director. It’s a strategic hire and follows another recent appointment: Chris Bahry, who is its new chief executive officer.

Carolyn will hold key accounts spanning the group, acting as the senior bridge between Forever’s many studios and its clients. She’ll also work closely with Chris and Kate Bate (COO), and the wider team.

“We are scaling taste, and that is a harder problem than scaling output,” explains Chris. “It takes someone who can hold a client relationship across our studios without sanding off what makes each one distinct. Carolyn has been doing that work at the group scale throughout her career. We’re lucky to get her.” Good luck in your new role, Carolyn.

Redscout appoints Michael Keany as CEO

Brand consultancy Redscout (part of Stagwell) has appointed Michael Keany as its new CEO, marking the next chapter in its growth. He brings more than 25 years of experience to the role. This comes after he recently founded Bryant Park Studio and also served as a professor of creative business leadership at SCAD.

“I am most excited about building on Redscout’s creative ambition, strategic rigour, and passion for the industry, while driving the company forward with fresh thinking and a steadfast commitment to our clients, people and craft,” he says. Keany replaces Ivan Kayser, who is leaving Redscout to focus on launching his own venture.

Brandon names Tim Perkins as its first-ever chairman

Tim Perkins, formerly of Design Bridge & Partners, has joined Brandon as chairman. Tim spent more than three decades at Design Bridge, where he was pivotal in its growth from an independent London studio into the WPP-owned global agency it is today. He brings that wealth of experience to Brandon, where he’ll focus on building the company’s next chapter alongside founders Richard and Abi Taylor.

“One of the things that resonated most with me was their ‘We go together’ philosophy,” he explains about his move. “We’re living through a time of accelerated change, and brands and businesses are under pressure to move faster than ever. Brandon’s entrepreneurial spirit brings a refreshing agility to their client relationships. The team clearly cares about delivering strategic and creative work at pace, but what really sets Brandon apart is the warmth and humility that underpins everything. It’s infectious, and it’s exactly what the industry needs right now.”

Next year, Brandon will be celebrating 15 years in business. What began in the attic of Richard and Abi’s home has since grown into a 40-strong team they lead across Manchester and London. Congratulations on your big milestone!

Brothers & Sisters appoints Michael Brady as president of gaming

Michael Brady has joined Brothers & Sisters as it looks to capitalise on new opportunities in entertainment, with streaming, sport and gaming increasingly coming together. He brings over 26 years of experience in online gaming, along with a ton of entrepreneurial success and insight across the gaming world.

Michael started at Cashcade in 2000, the pioneering company behind Foxy Bingo, before going on to found and scale multiple businesses. In 2012, he co-founded Bede Gaming and developed it into one of the industry’s leading technology platforms before successfully exiting the business in 2020. He was also a founding shareholder in Rocket9, a specialist gaming marketing agency acquired by LeoVegas in 2018.

“Michael is hugely experienced and smart, with proven success across multiple businesses, and his specialist knowledge of the gambling and gaming sector will be vital to both us and our clients,” says Brothers & Sisters CEO Matt Charlton.

M+C Saatchi promotes Guy Bradbury and hires Regan Warner

M+C Saatchi has also had a big summer. It’s promoted Guy Bradbury to chief creative officer and appointed Regan Warner as executive creative director – all to strengthen its senior team. Guy will lead the agency’s creative vision in the UK, while Regan joins from McCann London to help deliver brilliant work for clients across accounts.

“Since joining, Guy has played a huge role in raising the quality and impact of our work,” says Marcus Peffers, executive chair at M+C Saatchi. “From being instrumental to our most significant new client wins to leading our recent haul of industry awards, he’s consistently delivered the type of bold, distinctive work that’s expected from us. His promotion reflects the confidence we have in his creative vision for the future, and Regan is a brilliant first hire. We’re so delighted that two such exceptional talents will be leading the next chapter of our creative ambition.”

There’s further good news over on M+C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, too. Ross Watson has been promoted to managing director for Sport UK alongside Laura Coller’s appointment as global chief operating officer, a newly expanded role she will hold while continuing as UK CEO. Congrats to all!

St Luke’s promotes Rich Denney and Anastasia Terzeon

St Luke’s has promoted Rich Denney and Anastasia Terzeon as part of its growth plan. Rich will assume sole creative leadership as chief creative officer, and Anastasia Terzeon will become managing director, joining Chief Strategy Officer Dan Hulse and Head of Transformation and Apostle Entertainment Managing Director Leanne Silman on its senior leadership team.

The appointments come during a strong period for the company, following its appointment to the Premier Foods roster and its new partnership with BBD Perfect Storm. The partnership brings together two complementary independent agencies while preserving the distinct brands and leadership of both businesses. Together, the group has expanded capabilities across strategy, creativity, CRM, social, content and brand transformation, while providing greater international reach for clients.

“One of the joys of St Luke’s is the depth of talent we have within the agency, which allows us to develop and promote our own people,” says CEO Neil Henderson. “Rich and Anastasia are both exceptional leaders and have been at the heart of so many successes over the years.”

INVNT strengthens its US creative team

Another creative agency enjoying a growth spurt is INVNT. Describing itself as a “global, innovation-led live brand storytelling agency”, it’s part of the Nth Degree Family of Companies, backed by Shamrock Capital, and it’s just boosted its senior team through a series of hires and promotions.

Matt Flachsenhaar was promoted to vice president of creative, while Allie Pristas stepped into the role of executive creative director and Paul Leopold became senior creative director.

“I’ve watched Allie and Paul evolve beyond creating strategic, culturally resonant and emotionally powerful work,” said Matt. “They have become true experts in our clients’ businesses, helping shape not only individual projects but the direction and growth of entire accounts.”

Recently, INVNT also promoted Caitlin Regan and Kate Capone to design directors and Alex Cannon to art director. Nick Casillo joined the team as an associate graphic designer, alongside Ana Mahadevan.

The growth follows some big projects for the agency, including work for LinkedIn, Oracle (AI World), Amazon, and PepsiCo, plus a heap of awards such as being featured on the Event Marketers’ 100 Top Agencies IT List, and earning 14 Clio Awards – including a Grand Clio – and INVNT’s first Cannes Lion for the Infinite Saree Movement, created for Klick Health and the Red Dot Foundation.

Elmwood and MSQ hire Po Kay Lee in Asia

Elmwood has appointed Po Kay Lee as managing director of Elmwood and MSQ Asia. It marks the next phase of the agency’s growth across the region.

Joining from leadership roles at Forsman & Bodenfors and Superunion in Singapore and Asia, Po Kay will lead Elmwood’s Singapore studio while overseeing the strategic direction and growth of the wider MSQ business in Asia.

Some of the clients she’ll be working with include Unilever, Coca-Cola, Hilton and Heineken. “I am excited to have joined a group of entrepreneurial, agile, joined-up leaders, thinkers, and doers who are committed to putting our clients and their evolving needs at the centre of everything we do,” she says. “The MSQ model is a growth engine designed to unlock brand momentum, and Elmwood cares deeply about putting AI-powered human creativity at the heart of everything. With an unprecedented level of change in our industry, I’m looking forward to unlocking this impact and greater effectiveness for our clients in Asia.”

ustwo appoints its first AI non-executive director

ustwo has hired Simon Bouton, chief experience officer at Google DeepMind, as its first AI non-executive director. He joins the board to provide independent oversight of ustwo’s AI strategy, as part of the studio’s long-term commitment to responsible innovation and “human-centred” product design.

“His tenure at Google DeepMind, one of the world leaders in artificial intelligence research, gives him a rare vantage point on where AI is actually heading, informed by valuable earned experience, outside the distraction of hype,” explains Sue Siddall, chair of the ustwo board. “Having that expertise on the board will be a critical driver for the next chapter for ustwo, one where we’re just as disciplined about measuring outcomes for clients as we are about the technology itself.”

Interestingly, Simon has some history with ustwo. As programme manager for Streams at Google DeepMind Health, he worked directly with the studio to bring a clinical alert app into use by nurses and doctors in the NHS. “It was a project that required navigating strict healthcare security standards alongside the practical realities of clinical workflows,” says ustwo.

The move comes during a strong year of global growth for ustwo, including expansion in North America and Latin America, as well as ongoing investment in AI tooling for its global workforce. It marks the latest step in the studio’s continued investment in AI capabilities and leadership. And it reveals just where our industry is heading.

Cristina Tazza joins Design Bridge and Partners across the pond

Design Bridge and Partners, part of WPP, has appointed Cristina Tazza as managing director for North America to lead the agency’s growth in the region. Cristina will continue in her current role as global chief strategy officer, which she has held since 2022. Before that, she joined Design Bridge just as it was establishing its strategy team in New York.

“I’ve trusted Tazza to steer our business forward for the last few years, and she’s consistently shown me how well-placed that trust has been,” said John Morris, group CEO. “She brings a rare combination of strategic depth, creative understanding and commercial focus, and she has already had a significant impact on our clients, our people and our global offer.”

Further big appointments elsewhere

News broke earlier this month that Cat Davis has been appointed chief marketing officer at VML UK, marking the next chapter for the global creative agency. Cat brings over two decades of experience to the position. She’ll be responsible for building on VML’s recent account wins for Heineken and Allen & Overy, as well as the record-breaking haul of 10 Cannes Lions wins at this year’s festival, including a prestigious Grand Prix for ‘The KitKat Heist’.

Monotype’s Executive Creative Director Tom Foley has joined custom type foundry Studio DRAMA as its creative type director. Tom will help lead the studio’s next phase of growth across custom type, retail systems and brand-led typography.

In other news, independent brand studio Manual has appointed Gina Gutierrez as its strategy director. Before Manual, she was co-founder and CEO of audio fiction platform Dipsea, where she helped grow the company until its acquisition in 2024.

And in other AI news, Marks (part of Propelis) has brought in Manolo Almagro as its new chief innovation officer to help accelerate “AI-powered brand growth”. The news comes as Marks continues to expand its ‘Brand Creation Platform’, bringing together the expertise of 1,800 creators across 21 countries and 38 studios.

Launches and new ventures

Hugo & Marie in New York has relaunched as Studio & Marie. The creative agency and artist bureau, founded and led by Jennifer Gonzalez, also has a refreshed identity to mark the change. The announcement highlights the company’s continued growth across luxury, culture, media, hospitality, wellness, technology, and the creative industries.

Bray Leino has started a new business called GlobalAgility. It brings together seven independent agencies across Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific, including more than 850 people who specialise in B2B marketing. The idea is that instead of making a client fit into one big, fixed agency network, GlobalAgility will pull together a custom team tailored to each job. The client then deals with just one agency rather than juggling several. It’s run by Alex Wares, who was previously at Transmission, and it’s the latest bit of good news for Bray Leino, which recently hired Wayne Deakin as its chief creative officer.

Born Social has been busy. Part of Croud, it has launched the Born Creator Community – a platform that helps brands create lots of social media content using real, everyday creators rather than AI. The idea is that as social feeds fill up with AI slop, brands still want genuine content from actual people, and this gives them a way to achieve that at scale. It handles everything from finding the right creators to briefing them and delivering the work, all in one app. Brands who are already on board include Stanley, Premier Inn, Guinness and Smirnoff.

Finally, agency veterans Jonte Goldwater and Steve Richardson have launched a new strategic brand agency called Lucky Few. The pair first met in London in the early 2000s and have spent the last 25 years building studios and running brands across Europe and Australia. Steve himself spent 14 years at Mr B & Friends before heading back to New Zealand in 2022.

The idea behind Lucky Few is to strip away “the usual agency baggage”, as they put it, offering instead a model where a small number of CEOs and senior teams can work directly with them. As such, they won’t be taking on lots of accounts. Just enough to keep them happily busy.

Rebrand of the Month

There have been quite a few updates of late. Notably Koto’s new website and its fancy left-hand navigation bar – a design feature that now seems to be popping up everywhere else, too. DixonBaxi has gone all-in on the AI angle with a clever ‘ask us anything’ feature on its homepage. And TBWA has unveiled a new global identity, suggesting it’s going the other way, toward human craft and expression.

Created by its own design team at DXD and led by global chief design officer Bruno Regalo, the thinking behind it is that a brand should be recognisable from its look alone, before you even see the logo. They call this a brand’s ‘Visual Brand Soul’. They believe in this approach so much they’ve trademarked it. So it leans into the human-made. There are hand-drawn icons, imperfect brushwork, and serif type built around TBWA’s signature backslash. And they’ve introduced a warm new colour called Analog. Nicely done.

Milestones and anniversaries

Now there wasn’t quite enough news on account wins and partnerships this month. It’s August, so we weren’t expecting much. But huge congrats to Pink Neon, as it has been appointed by Center Parcs to handle its PR and marketing over the coming months. Good news for Fantasticate, too. It’s won an account with Scottish Sea Farms to help it refine its brand positioning and marketing communications.

If we’re talking milestones, though, Tim Marlow OBE – the director and chief executive of London’s Design Museum – has been given an honorary doctorate by Kingston University. The award recognises everything he’s done in design, the arts and culture. It also marks a 25-year partnership between the two, including the very well-regarded MA Design Curating course. On accepting the gong, Tim used the moment to champion design as a serious problem-solving tool, and left graduating students with the line: “Stay curious. Let your curiosity take you into unexpected places”.

Key takeaways

So what does all this news mean for the creative industry? Can we look forward to a buoyant September once everyone returns to their desks? Is AI going to take our jobs or create more opportunities? Should we be worried or excited?

Firstly, the AI conversation has clearly grown up. I promised I wouldn’t dwell on it, but just look at the pattern: ustwo appointing an AI non-exec, Marks hiring a chief innovation officer, Elmwood talking about “AI-powered human creativity”, Born Social steering clients away from AI slop, TBWA leaning in on the human-made. Nobody’s running away from the technology… they’re figuring out next steps. This is where our taste and judgment step in. It’s what everyone’s investing in. As Forever’s Chris Bahry put it, “we are scaling taste, and that is a harder problem than scaling output”. It’s a reassuring moment for creatives everywhere.

Second, this is what good old business confidence looks like. You don’t appoint a new CEO, chair or chief executive unless you’re planning to grow. And August was swamped with them. I barely covered them all. Even better, so many were promotions from within. Guy Bradbury at M+C Saatchi. Rich Denney and Anastasia Terzeon at St Luke’s. The whole creative team levelling up at INVNT over in the States. It’s another good sign our industry is thriving.

And third, the independents are making serious moves. That’s whether it’s seven agencies coming together to form GlobalAgility or Elmwood joining up with MSQ across Asia… St Luke’s teaming up with BBD, Perfect Storm, or Forever’s new “collective of studios” model… it seems the smart next step is to join forces. People are building bigger, more connected offers for clients. So they can undoubtedly keep overheads manageable but also take on the networks on their own terms. It all points to the start of a boom, if you ask me. Here’s to September.