TBWA\Dublin has made a number of major senior appointments to its strategy and creative departments including that of Mandy Leontakianakis who joins the agency as chief strategy officer and Des Creedon who has been promoted to executive creative director.
Leontakianakis is relocating from South Africa where she has held CSO and departmental lead roles across brand, digital, social media and shopper marketing agencies like TBWA\Integer, Havas and WPP. During her career she has worked with leader and challenger brands like Coca-Cola, Absa Bank (formerly Barclays Africa) and Parmalat.
According to Deirdre Waldron, CEO of the agency: “Mandy was introduced to us as one of South Africa’s most prolific strategists and being honest she’s well on the way to becoming one of Ireland’s too! Mandy is already proving to be an invaluable member of our leadership team; her passion, experience and strategic philosophy means she’ll have no problem adding to the culture at TBWA and more importantly she will continually help to place our client brands firmly in the culture that surrounds them.”
“Agency culture, what it’s like in the building when no one is watching, and strategic-creative chemistry have become my top priorities in working at an agency. Moving to a new country made the stakes even higher. I nurtured a hope that this was an agency where forthrightness was encouraged, and bullshit summarily avoided. Having spent real time with the team, under not-for-show conditions, I know I’m in the right place. Add to that an exciting list of diverse clients, and I’m really excited to see where we go with what we have,” adds Leontakianakis.
Des Creedon, meanwhile, joined TBWA\Dublin from Publicis Dublin in 2014 having previously worked at McConnell’s and DDFH&B. Creedon made his name creating award winning work for clients such as Meteor, TG4, McDonald’s, The Department of Justice, SuperValu and Jameson to name but a few.
“Having spent the last twenty years creating work with a unique Irish sensibility, I’m delighted to start a new partnership with Mandy and begin to deliver disruptive creative for ambitious Irish based brands on a global scale like Jameson. But equally, working with someone of Mandy’s calibre and global credentials, will help ambitious iconic Irish brands like SuperValu show up in disruptive and culturally relevant ways in the Irish market,” says Creedon.
“We’re particularly proud of this promotion as it recognises one of Ireland’s most talented creative leaders. Des was handpicked by our Global C.C.O. Chris Garbutt to lead the agency into its next phase of growth. Our clients have received the news with universal approval,” adds Waldron.
With Creedon’s move to the role of ECD, the agency has also hired the internationally and nationally awarded creative duo of Dillon Elliott and Clayton Homer as creative directors who join the agency from BBDO Dublin.
“We’re thrilled Dillon and Clayton are joining the team at TBWA\Dublin. They’re fantastic creatives and great guys with a stellar track record of creating impactful, and at times breath taking work for clients like the Irish Road Safety Authority and the Diageo brands, particularly Guinness,” says Des Creedon.
“TBWA\Dublin is really energised at the moment, and we’re over the moon to get the opportunity to go in and ride that wave with it. A truly inspiring roster of clients. A super talented, clear-sighted and ambitious management team. And a network that’s going from strength to strength globally. It’s the type of place we know we’ll be able to continue making the kind of challenging and disruptive work we love. Throw in Des – a true gent and one of the best in the business, and it’s a perfect storm – we’re so excited to come on board and help shape the creative future of the agency,”
In addition to these new hires both Yvonne Caplice and Aleesha Tully are being promoted internally in recognition of their excellent work across the agency clients. Caplice will take on a business director role while Tully takes a strategy director role as part of Mandy Leontakianakis’ team.
Deirdre Waldron concluded: “Our new team members and internal promotions mean TBWA\Dublin will move into 2020 and beyond with optimism and a continuing commitment to create disruptive work for our clients”.
