Alan Stout hired as chief strategy officer
Agnes Fischer is joining BBH USA as president, with Alan Stout set to serve as chief strategy officer. Fischer and Stout will join in January, and work alongside chief creative officer Erica Roberts. Both Fischer and Stout will report to Publicis Groupe chief strategy officer Carla Serrano.
As president, Fischer takes the helm in the U.S. and will join the BBH Global Board. She was most recently president of The&Partnership. Prior, Fischer was executive group director and co-head of account management at Droga5, managing client services and running the firm’s JPMorgan Chase and New York Times accounts. Her more than two decades in the creative industry include key roles for agencies including DDB, TBWA, Publicis Worldwide, Organic and Anomaly.
“I am honored to lead an agency with such a rich legacy of brilliant work, and I’m very excited to partner with Erica and Alan,” said Fischer. “BBH has proven that creativity has the power to drive outsized results, which is a value I’ve always championed. I love the agency’s ‘zag when others zig’ philosophy and believe it uniquely positions us to help clients navigate today’s chaotic landscape.”
Fischer replaces Amani Duncan, who left the organization to pursue another opportunity.
As chief strategy officer, Stout believes a strategist’s role is to be the most interested person in the room. He has made a career of being curious, and has spent the most recent years of his journey at San Francisco-based Argonaut, where he served as chief strategy officer. He got his start in advertising as an art director, but found strategy afforded more opportunities for exploration. And, he’s spent nearly two decades shaping creative and brand strategy at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Mother, Sid Lee and Pereira & O’Dell, working with iconic brands like Chevrolet, Doritos, Cheetos, Absolut Vodka, Sour Patch Kids, Stella Artois, Hรคagen-Dazs, Calvin Klein, FitBit, Got Milk, and Cricket Wireless.
“BBH made the blueprint for how brand strategy can best serve creativity. I am humbled to join a long line of beautiful minds that love evidence-based change, making our audiences proud, and going rogue with an arty flavor. I can’t wait to form VOLTRON with Erica, Agnes, and all the black sheep at BBH.”
This news builds upon the appointments of sr. talent for BBH in the past year, including global chief creative officer Alex Grieve; U.S. CCO Erica Roberts, and executive creative directors Kasia Canning and Estefanio Holtz.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this yearโs Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa โT-Rexโ Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shieldsโ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More