The VIA Agency, an advertising and marketing shop based in Portland, Maine, has named Bobby Hershfield as chief creative officer, effective Oct. 1. He will report to CEO Leeann Leahy and join the executive leadership team, working with brands including L.L. Bean, Lowe’s, Arm & Hammer and Klondike. Hershfield is coming over to VIA from the community in New York, were he served as VP, executive creative director. Prior to that, he was CCO and partner at SS&K, where his “Awkward Family Viewing” campaign for HBO Go was awarded multiple Cannes Lions. In addition to his time spent at Ogilvy & Mather, where he worked on IBM and Yahoo!, he is also known for his work on Rembrandt, KY, Jet.com, President Obama’s 2012 campaign and Target. Hershfield started his career in account management at DDB, Chiat/Day and Weiden + Kennedy. He then took the leap from account management to creative in 2000, becoming an integral part of the W+K creative department working on Nike, ESPN and authoring the award-winning Beta 7 campaign for Sega. His work over the years has been recognized by Cannes, The One Show–where he won “Best in Show” two separate years–The Andy’s, Art Director’s Club, WEBBY, Clio, D&AD, CA and TED. Hershfield is also on the advisory review committee of Ad Council….
San Francisco-based creative studio Bonfire Labs has a new ownership structure led by current partners Chris Weldon, Mary Mathaisell and Jim Bartel. The news comes on the heels of the retirement of Lisa Hinman and John Crossley, the last of the original founders. Additionally Bonfire’s creative lead/head of creative technology Phil Spitler, creative lead/head of editorial Robbie Proctor and head of production Sheila Smith have been named associate partners. Bonfire has an extensive history in the Bay Area. Hinman, Crossley and Bob Frisk worked together at One Pass/Editel San Francisco in the 1980s. A fire in the early ‘90s led to the closing of Editel’s doors and the three went off on their own to start Phoenix Editorial, a boutique working primarily in broadcast advertising. In 2009 Bonfire Labs was launched, expanding Phoenix’s editorial services to include design, animation and VFX. Led by Bartel, Bonfire Labs shifted its business model, becoming a hybrid between an agency and production company to meet emerging content needs for the web, social channels, events and every manner of marketing communications. Mathaisell and Weldon joined to help bring the new business plan to fruition, which has included the company partnering with brands directly and continuing to evolve to meet marketplace needs…….
