Will assume his new role at WPP’s shopper marketing & activation agency effective Feb. 1
Jim Carlton will be taking on the role of chief creative officer, North America, for Geometry Global, WPP’s shopper marketing and activation agency. Carlton comes over from Arc Worldwide where he provided creative leadership on all of that agency’s accounts including McDonald’s, Purina, United Airlines, Walgreen’s, Comcast, MillerCoors, Norton, Coca-Cola, Sprint, Intel, and P&G. He will be filling the position left vacant by the departure of Bruce Henderson in September 2015. Carlton will be based in Chicago starting February 1, 2016.
In his new role at Geometry, Carlton will provide creative vision and oversight for Geometry Global offices in New York, Chicago, Akron, San Francisco, Cincinnati Atlanta, Minneapolis, Rogers, Toronto and Montreal. He will report directly to Carl Hartman, CEO of Geometry Global North America.
Carlton has served various roles in the Leo Burnett/Arc family for almost 20 years. Prior to Geometry Global, he was EVP, managing creative director of Leo Burnett/Arc in Chicago where he was responsible for the growth and reputation of Arc, the Intelligent Brand Activation Agency of the Leo Burnett Group. Prior to that, he was at Arc Worldwide (formerly Frankel) where he was recruited to help elevate the design and creative reputation of Frankel’s promotional business. There he lead creative across the agency’s McDonald’s retail and promotional business and helped create McDonald’s “Simple Bold.” Carlton also played an instrumental role in major new business wins such as Intel and Walmart. He began his career as a graphic designer at Young & Rubicam Group in New York.
Carlton’s work has been recognized by a range of U.S. and global industry award shows including Cannes, EFFIE, One Show, Pro Awards, REGGIE and Chicago Advertising Federation.
More Than A Game: Bringing Sincere Representation Of The Shawnee Tribe To Civilization 7
Shawnee Tribe Chief Ben Barnes grew up playing video games, including "probably hundreds of hours" colonizing a distant planet in the 1999 title Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.
So when that same game studio, Firaxis, approached the tribal nation a quarter-century later with a proposal to make a playable character out of their famous leader Tecumseh in the upcoming game Civilization 7, Barnes felt a rush of excitement.
"I was like, 'This can't be true,'" Barnes said. "Do they want us to participate in the next version of Civilization?"
Beloved by tens of millions of gamers since its 1991 debut, Meier's Civilization series sparked a new genre of empire-building games that simulated the real world while also diverging into imaginary twists. It has captivated nerdy fans like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and a young Barnes with its intricate and addictive gameplay and rich historical context.
Choosing among leaders that can range from Cleopatra to Mahatma Gandhi, players build a civilization from its first settlement to a sprawling network of cities, negotiate with or conquer neighbors, and develop trade, science, religion and the arts. Circana, which tracks U.S. game sales, says it's the bestselling strategy video game franchise of all time.
But things have changed since the early days of Civilization. Of course, video game technology has advanced, but so too has society's understanding of cultural appropriation and the importance of accurate historical framing.
Firaxis dropped plans to add a historical Pueblo leader in 2010 after tribal leaders objected. The game incorporated a Cree leader in 2018 but faced public criticism in Canada after its release.
Developers knew that to properly represent the Shawnee leader, they would... Read More