Digitas has elevated Nat Resende to executive creative director, Chicago, and hired McKay Hathaway to serve as sr. VP, creative. They will report into Atit Shah, chief creative officer. Shah, Resende and Hathaway will team to further advance the agency’s creativity capability and leadership.
Following the recent introduction of Digitas AI, an AI-powered operating system and tool suite, the new creative leadership combined with the investment in technology, underscores Digitas’ commitment to strengthening its networked creativity approach. The offering leverages the skills of creatives, technologists, and data-fueled intelligence to drive creative output.
Prior to being promoted to ECD in Chicago, Resende held the position of SVP/group creative director. She has been instrumental in fostering creativity for a large international CPG account, thus elevating a portfolio of brands to new levels of cultural resonance. Notably, she recently developed an augmented reality platform for a snack brand that highlighted underrepresented BIPOC artists at the High Museum in Atlanta.
Throughout her career, Resende has won the Cannes Young Lions Competition, and led award-winning work such as Spike Lee’s commercial for Coin Cloud. As the leader of Digitas Chicago, she will continue to deliver diverse creative outputs, including culture-shaping networked campaigns, impactful brand storytelling, and AI-powered activations.
Hathaway had been executive creative director at VML prior to joining Digitas. At VML, he led the integrated Wendy’s AOR account, and his innovative and audience-focused portfolio has won him a Grand Prix and Gold Cannes Lions, and Effie Awards, among other accolades.
“Nat brings a vibrant, modern and global-minded sensibility to our work and our collective vision. From leading on our ‘Unlock AI’ panel, to bias-breaking social activations, to her deft ability to unlock the power of emerging talent and teams, she has her eyes set on the future of our industry. And with McKay, we have gained a true maverick in the shaping of brands for new worlds; his rule-bending work on Wendy’s is just such an inspiration. The fact that they are both such empathetic and generous leaders–those who like to pull in outside experts, collaborators, and platforms–only furthers our vision for Networked Experiences,” said Shah.
