VIRTUE, the agency born from VICE has elevated Rob Newlan to global president and Krystle Watler to managing director, North America. The shop has also hired Simon Mogren as executive creative director, U.S.
These appointments come at a time when VIRTUE has generated momentum. In the past year, the agency picked up 24 new clients across North America and 45 across international markets, in addition to taking home one Grand Prix, one Glass Award, seven Lions and a total of 23 shortlist designations at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Newlan joined VIRTUE in June of 2017 as chief executive overseeing the organization across the EMEA region, and more recently VIRTUE’s international offices in Asia as well, after a career at Diageo, Coca-Cola and Facebook. Under his leadership, he has launched Virtue across the markets outside of North America. Seeing strong growth, the regions have recently won new clients including Puma, Pandora, Topshop, Budweiser and Footlocker. More recently Newlan’s teams have delivered highly awarded and praised campaigns, including Carlings’ “adDRESS_the_FUTURE” and Q the World’s “First Genderless Voice.” In his new role as global president, Newlan will oversee VIRTUE’s 21 offices across the globe, adding the LATAM and North America regions to his scope, and their respective management teams.
Watler, who has served as VIRTUE’s SVP and head of business development in North America, has helped the agency grow across the region bringing on new clients including Beats by Dre, Indeed, Target, Urban Decay and AT&T. As managing director, she will oversee all agency operations across its Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Austin and Toronto offices. Her promotion also comes on the heels of recent industry recognition, including being named an Adcolor Rockstar Award finalist.
A new addition to the team is Mogren who joins VIRTUE with almost 20 years of experience as a creative and innovation leader. As ECD, he will oversee the creative output from VIRTUE’s Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Austin offices. Mogren has spent time at agencies in various markets including DDB Stockholm, Ogilvy Paris and BBDO New York, and has worked with clients including Louis Vuitton, AT&T, Bacardi, PepsiCo, Dove Beauty, Footlocker and IKEA. Mogren brings extensive experience in digital innovation and technology to VIRTUE, having established BBDO’s The XLab and leading DDB Stockholm’s digital offering.
“VIRTUE is growing because of the phenomenal talent wanting to join and willing to transform the industry with us,” said Dominique Delport, president of international and global chief revenue officer, VICE. “With its creative reputation, ever-growing client roster, the unique access to VICE audience and cultural insights and our world-class production and distribution capabilities, this team has proven itself to be one of the most innovative in the game. Rob, Krystle and Simon are leaders and standout creatives that impact our industry as a whole.”
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More