Tech-centric creative company The Barbarian Group is strengthening its sr. executive leadership team with several new hires and promotions following new business wins (Etihad Airways and KIND Snacks) and organic growth from existing clients. In a new role for the company, Ian Daly has joined as chief strategy officer. Darren Himebrook has been hired as head of operations. Edu Pou has been promoted to chief creative officer from executive creative director. And Robert Christ, previously tech director, has become chief technology officer.
“As we continue to double down on using technology to create disruptive digital experiences for brands, we need the right kind of talent to do this effectively and efficiently,” said Sophie Kelly, CEO of The Barbarian Group.
In his role, Daly will partner in charting a strategic course for the company and lend new inspiration and focus to the team to create ideas, rooted in technology, that drive culture. He joins The Barbarian Group from TBWAMedia Arts Lab in Los Angeles, where he was group strategy director, overseeing a team of more than 20 planners. During his time there he has helped TBWAMAL expand in seven different emerging markets and was integral in building TBWAMAL’s relationship with Apple in its post-Steve Jobs era. Daly also re-built its analytics operation, integrating it into planning, and most recently led the charge for Apple’s recent launch of Apple Music. Prior to TBWAMAL, he was the head of planning at Anomaly in New York, worked at Grey, and was a senior writer and editor for Details and Wired.
Himebrook will oversee agency operations, production and The Barbarian Group’s content studio, Lot112. He got his start in advertising working on the Burger King account at CP+B. He also worked on projects for Wieden + Kennedy and JWT, and he directed a video for Nelson Mandela. He most recently built out digital production capabilities at The Martin Agency, tripling profitability while growing the team and increasing the quality of the work for clients such as GEICO, Microsoft and Benjamin Moore. This resulted in the recent Grand Prix and Silver Lion wins at Cannes for both GEICO and Benjamin Moore.
Pou will oversee all creative output for The Barbarian Group’s client roster. He joined The Barbarian Group in October 2014 and has since helped the company win several new accounts–PepsiCo’s Brisk, KIND Snacks and Etihad Airways.
Christ has been with The Barbarian Group since 2013 and has helped the company to deliver engaging experiences including the Cannes-winning Samsung “CenterStage,” Intel’s RealSense 3D out-of-box experience, IBM’s dev@Pulse CodeJam, as well as web and campaign work for GE, IBM, Pepsi, Bacardi and Samsung.
