Andrew Dawson has been hired as partner, chief strategy officer at Deutsch New York. Since February, Dawson has been working with Deutsch as a freelance strategist and consultant on existing clients and new business efforts. This is Deutsch NY’s second significant hire this year as it builds out it’s leadership team; the first was in February with the addition of Trevor O’Brien as partner, chief technology officer, a newly created position.
Dawson’s first day will be March 28th. He reports directly to Deutsch NY CEO Val DiFebo and replaces the CSO position most recently held by Brent Vartan who left the agency in June 2015 to start accelerator agency Bullish.
Prior to freelancing at Deutsch, Dawson was chief strategy officer at Johannes Leonardo on clients including Google, Mondelez’s Trident, adidas Originals, TripAdvisor, and PlayStation Vue. Before Johannes Leonardo, he was co-founder of the Master & Dynamic brand, makers of premium headphones sold at Apple Stores and fashion boutiques, leading strategic vision and brand development. Dawson gained extensive experience as a consultant while at Sylvain Labs, Undercurrent, and as a freelancer—including development of traditional and digital brand strategy, innovation projects ranging from research and whitespace development, product architecture, brand creation, naming and positioning, to more classical consulting projects. Dawson acquired agency side experience in planning roles at R/GA and McCann Erickson, and on an array of clients including Chobani, Victoria’s Secret, Johnson & Johnson, Pepsi, E-Trade, Land Rover, Levi’s, SC Johnson’s, US Army, and Walmart.
Additionally, DiFebo announced the promotion of Shobha Sairam to EVP, director of planning from EVP, group planning director. With Deutsch since 2012, she has been leading strategy on J&J’s Acuvue and Green Giant and will now take on a broader role with the department on existing clients and new business opportunities. Agency experience includes time with Leo Burnett and Mother, on an array of clients such as Coca-Cola, Kraft, Heineken, JC Penney, Liz Claiborne, and Cadbury’s Sour Patch Kids.
