Booms & Shakes: March’s fresh moves, new launches and a 26-year goodbye

A landmark exit at Iris, a flurry of new ventures in sport, social and AI, and a month that proves the creative industry isn’t for standing still.

Welcome to Booms & Shakes, our monthly round-up of the hires, promotions, partnerships and stories making waves across the creative world. And there’s no doubt about it: March has arrived like it has something to prove.

We’ve seen a major exit after more than a quarter-century of leadership. New studios are being launched for sports, social, and AI-driven production. There are acquisitions, partnerships, account wins and a healthy number of anniversary milestones. And a much-loved creative events institution is making its long-awaited comeback.

Look closely at all this news, and a few themes emerge. Brands are fighting to reclaim their voices on social media. Purpose-driven creative partnerships are multiplying. And in-house capability is being built at pace, with external agencies often hired to help determine how to do it properly.

Here’s everyone and everything that’s been making noise this month.

Exits and transitions

Ian Millner steps down at Iris

The most significant departure of the month (and possibly of the year) is Iris Worldwide founder Ian Millner stepping down as chair after 26 years.

Since launching Iris in 1999 as a deliberate challenger to traditional agency models, Ian has grown the network into a $100m-plus global creative operation spanning 11 offices and more than 650 people.

The agency’s philosophy of building ideas that people actively choose to participate in (rather than passively receive) has been influential across the industry. Iris will now enter its next chapter under Zoe Eagle, Jill Smith, Menno Kluin and Ben Essen, who’ve recently repositioned the agency around the idea of ‘Participate or Perish’.

New hires and promotions

Wayne Deakin joins Bray Leino

Bray Leino has appointed Wayne Deakin, former global ECD at Wolff Olins, to a newly created role as chief creative officer. Wayne brings more than 25 years of experience across AKQA, Huge, Engine, Jung von Matt and Wolff Olins, with a portfolio spanning Google, Nike, Apple, Chanel and the UN. To our eyes, creating a CCO role at all is the most important thing here. Bray Leino is setting a new creative ambition, and Wayne is the kind of appointment that makes that legible.

Sarina Da Costa Gomez joins Particle6

Founded by Eline van der Velden, creator of Tilly Norwood, AI-powered production company Particle6 has hired award-winning brand designer Sarina Da Costa Gomez as its first executive creative director. A former WPP creative director, she steps into the senior leadership team immediately with a goal of driving AI and hybrid workflows to help brand partners create cinematic, best-in-class work faster and at scale. The announcement lands on the back of renewed attention on Particle6 following the release of Tilly Norwood’s first music video. Timing, as ever, is everything.

Nat Lau joins BBC Creative

BBC Creative has confirmed Natalie Lau as its new head of planning, stepping across from Uncommon Creative Studio, where she held the same role for clients including BT, Hiscox, Ocado and Depop. Before that, she helped transform eBay UK and drive the global growth of Just Eat at McCann London. This is the second big move from Uncommon to BBC Creative in as many months, following ECD Richard Biggs’s departure in February.

23red bolsters its senior team

Purpose-driven creative agency 23red, part of Capgemini, has strengthened its senior team on three fronts; a sign of an agency in confident, expansionist mode. Alex Lemecha-Sim joins as senior business director from M&C Saatchi, following a run of new business wins, bolstering the client lead team as the agency grows its roster of impact-focused clients. On the promotions front, Tristan Cavanagh steps up to executive creative director, and creative services director Mark Howard joins the senior leadership team after a year of expanding and driving innovation in 23red’s production capabilities.

Leopard Co gets a creative services manager

Integrated agency Leopard Co has appointed James Dignum as creative services manager, and is refreshingly direct about why. With clients increasingly recognising the long-term brand damage of low-quality AI-generated content, the hire is a deliberate response to rising demand for skilled, human-made creative work. The first step, the agency says, is in a longer-term plan to expand its creative studio offering.

More movers worth knowing about

Pearlfisher has appointed Justine Allan, its first-ever US managing director. She’s now MD of its New York studio, at what the agency describes as a pivotal moment for strategic, creative and commercial growth. Meanwhile, designer and creative director Raissa Pardini, whose work has appeared on Rolling Stones and Blur tour posters, in campaigns for Nike and Gucci, and in the permanent collection at the V&A, has joined the global roster at Jelly.

Global brand consultancy Brandpie has opened a Nordic office, appointing Monique Berntsen as head of Nordics. Meanwhile, global creative company Koto has welcomed Kim Phillips as creative director in New York. However, she’s since become Kim Quraishi after getting married this week: congratulations from all of us at Creative Boom! Koto New York has also welcomed its first growth director, Laura Carrick, and Nathan Eyers has joined Koto as global director of operations.

New York creative and production studio Versus has brought in Michele Fino as head of content partnerships, with a remit to turn brands’ creative ambitions into original IP, drawing on her experience across American Idol, America’s Got Talent and The Price Is Right. Celebrity and entertainment agency Attachment, celebrating its tenth year in business with offices in London, New York and Dubai, has appointed David Weiswasser as executive VP, North America; he brings over 30 years of experience, including the presidency of Platinum Rye Entertainment.

Nice and Serious has promoted Alex King to MD, stepping up from client services director to lead the agency’s next phase of growth. Creative consultancy Brandon has appointed Brett Stabler as associate creative director after a successful contract stint. And animation and entertainment studio MAKE has welcomed Nicolas Louckevitch as executive producer, with a brief to deepen the studio’s relationships as both its commercial roster and Originals slate gain momentum.

Brand experience agency StudioXAG has made a senior hire in Frances Fisher, joining co-founders Gemma Ruse and Xavier Sherriff at a moment when demand for experiential brand activations is rising sharply. And consumer goods group Newell Brands—home to Sharpie, Rubbermaid, Coleman, Graco and Yankee Candle—has appointed Brian Rice as VP and global head of design, based in Atlanta.

Launches and new ventures

Capel Group: new network born in Asia

Here’s a sizeable launch that deserves more attention than it’s received: Capel Group came together earlier this year, uniting more than 200 professionals across 14 founder-led studios on four continents, spanning the UK, Middle East, Asia and Australia. It claims to be the first independent global agency network born out of Asia, and marked its launch with events in London, Brisbane, Hong Kong and Dubai.

Allwyn launches Studio 59

Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, has announced the launch of Studio 59, a new in-house creative and content studio, opening in April. The rationale is familiar: as demand for timely, culturally attuned content grows across digital platforms, in-house capability allows brands to move faster and focus their agency partnerships more effectively.

Creative Engineers launches

Senior marketing leaders Helen Weisinger and Niall McKinney, alongside Morgan Cox and Cressida Laing, have launched Creative Engineers, a consultancy focused on helping brands redesign the operating models behind modern content production. The business launches with three founding clients, including Allwyn.

Jacky Winter launches Capital Virtues

Global artist agency The Jacky Winter Group has launched Capital Virtues, a new agency representing artists who pair strong visual practices with genuine fluency on the internet. The founding class includes James Junk, whose work spans Dropbox and Claude; Fabiola Lara, who has worked with Adobe and the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and COVL, who has created work for Smirnoff, Apple, and the NY Liberty.

Lush Studio: cinematic film meets full-service creative

Miche and Tom Middleton, filmmakers for over a decade through Lush Films, have launched Lush Studio, a full-service creative studio based in the Shropshire Hills, bringing together film production, branding, website design and social media strategy. The impetus was something the pair kept noticing with their clients: beautiful films and photography being buried on websites, strong stories lost behind confusing digital experiences. The studio exists to ensure the whole picture works together, not just the film at its centre.

BEEF builds brand worlds

After four years heading up the creative team at YouTube, including leading the platform’s global rebrand, Kieran Mistry and Harry Boyd have founded BEEF. They’re now combining that in-house experience with agency backgrounds spanning Koto, Pentagram and Uncommon, to help in-house teams build brand worlds that cut through in an era of AI-generated noise. A D&AD workshop later this year is already in the diary. Worth watching.

Sport drives growth

Not one but two March launches make the case that sport has become the creative industry’s dominant growth story. Former adidas and DAZN executive Ben Goldhagen leads the launch of Coolr Sport, a dedicated sports division from social agency Coolr, focused on helping brands, teams and athletes win on social.

Elsewhere, Natalia Forster, who spent more than a decade building global campaigns for adidas across TBWA, W+K, 180 and GUT Amsterdam, is expanding her VOICE consultancy into the sports sector with VOICE X SPORT, specifically to help athletes define who they are beyond competition.

ELVIS joins forces with the Roundhouse

Creative growth studio ELVIS has announced a strategic partnership with London music venue Roundhouse, becoming the first partner from within the brand and marketing world to join Roundhouse Works, its co-working and development programme for early-stage freelancers and entrepreneurs aged 18 to 30. ELVIS will contribute masterclasses, workshops and drop-ins led by its own employees.

Dimensional Works steps into the light

Australian multidisciplinary studio Dimensional Works, founded by creative director Daniel Restrepo, has officially hard-launched this month with a new website. Built on first-hand experience across construction, sustainability, heavy industry, and distribution, it’s a studio deliberately designed for sectors with serious creative needs but relatively little specialist attention.

Partnerships and account wins

MOREVER, and Social Firefly team up

Creative agency MOREVER and social strategy specialists Social Firefly have launched a strategic partnership offering a fully integrated, end-to-end campaign service for purpose-driven organisations in charity, health and sustainability. The collab is already producing results: a winter fundraising campaign for Family Fund generated 2.1 million impressions, 204,000 engagements and raised 54% over its fundraising target.

Reebok appoints Gung Ho

Gung Ho has been appointed as Reebok’s retained UK agency for PR and influencer strategy following a competitive pitch. The partnership’s already been running since December, with activity spanning the Born Classic, Worn For Life campaign, the Global Basketball Games, and the press strategy for the Full Circle pop-up at the Vinyl Factory.

M&A

EC Group acquires Ivory Worldwide

The EC Group, the international brand experience group behind creative experience agency Event Concept, has acquired global B2B brand experience agency Ivory Worldwide. Having B2B and B2C experience capability under one roof is not a combo you see often, and it’s a potentially powerful one.

BEARD joins M+T Group

Creative studio BEARD—founded in 2011 and known for its work for Red Bull, Microsoft and Guy Ritchie—has joined Marketing + Technologies Group. A recognisable independent creative voice folding into a larger, technology-led marketing operation.

Milestones and anniversaries

There’s a fun cluster of birthdays this month. Firstly, strategic brand agency The Engine Room heads into its 25th year with a new leadership structure: founder Darren Evans becomes MD following the departure of Lesley Gulliver, who shaped the agency across 14 years and helped transform a derelict 19th-century Mirfield mill into their current home. Packaging design company Burgopak also marks its quarter-century, having started in 2001 with no running water, and later pivoting from CD and DVD packaging into premium fintech and wellness products.

Creative agency n-fuze celebrates 20 years with a new brand identity and its first head of marketing, having grown almost entirely on recommendations for two decades. Finally, solo designer Chris Wilson’s studio stckmn turned 10 last month. It’s been a decade of international awards, work on the screens at Piccadilly Circus and Times Square, and design talks across the industry. Not bad, as he puts it, for a wee guy from Clydebank.

Guildford-based design agency Deuce Studio is celebrating its tenth anniversary with a rebrand and new website. Founded in 2016 by three university friends—Jonny Aldrich, Richard Patrick, and Matthew Down—it has grown from freelance side projects into a fully-fledged creative agency with a client roster that includes Budweiser. The trio has built a reputation for immersive, strategy-led brand work that prioritises depth over noise. Here’s to the next ten.

Also celebrating: Creative Office, the collaborative branding practice founded by Cosmo Jameson after eight years at SomeOne, turns five this month. As a company of one, Cosmo reflects that the milestone feels significant given the economic turbulence of the past few years, and that it marks a newfound gear for being bigger, better and bolder.

Studio AntiGravity has had a big few months. What began as founder Jordan’s solo operation is now a team of three, with first employee Esme joining full-time after being discovered while the studio was hunting for a freelancer, and Rachel stepping up as studio director. A new website and rebrand launched this month reflect the shift from solo freelancer to full-service creative agency.

And artist management agency The Jacky Winter Group is marking ten years of its New York office. Bianca Bramham opened the outpost in 2016, relocating from Melbourne with a single suitcase and a handful of contacts. A decade on, the team has grown to six and has secured work for its artists with the likes of Nike, Apple, Netflix, The New York Times, and Wieden+Kennedy. Happy anniversary to them.

Two quick notes to end on: beloved creative events series Glug is returning, with a debut event confirmed for April or May. And creative PR agency The Romans has reason to celebrate after its design duo, Holly Stephens and Georgia Pizzala, won the Design Young Lions and will represent the UK at Cannes. Congratulations to both of them.