BBH NY has unveiled its new senior management team. R/GA’s Anthony Romano will join BBH NY next month as its CEO. Gerard Caputo was promoted to chief creative officer. And Sarah Watson, who will continue as BBH’s global chief strategy officer, has been promoted to chairman of BBH NY.
Romano will report to Neil Munn, BBH global CEO. In addition to running the NY office, Romano will work with Munn to help advance the agency’s innovation agenda.
At R/GA, Romano served as SVP, head of client services U.S., reporting directly to founder/chairman Bob Greenberg, and overseeing client teams across R/GA’s six US offices. During his three-year tenure at R/GA, Romano also served as group managing director of R/GA NY overseeing integrated groups responsible for some of the agency’s most significant client relationships, including Samsung, Verizon and Pepsi.
Prior to R/GA, Romano was global head of agency development at AOL, partnering with AOL’s largest global media and creative agency relationships to build custom digital advertising and content solutions for a host of Fortune 100 brands. During his career, he has also held senior management positions at Publicis Groupe, Ogilvy and Carmichael Lynch, as well as having served as a client-side marketing executive for Polo Ralph Lauren and Gap Inc., where he led digital, CRM and mobile efforts.
Caputo has been with BBH NY for just over four years and is responsible for the agency’s most recognized creative output across a number of accounts including Netflix and PlayStation. Last year he was the creative lead on BBH’s FU2016 campaign for House of Cards which received the Cannes Grand Prix for Integrated Campaign. Prior to BBH he held executive creative director positions at Ogilvy & Mather, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, and creative director positions at BBDO, Fallon and Mullen.
Pelle Sjoenell, BBH’s worldwide chief creative officer, spoke about Caputo’s promotion to chief creative officer in NY. “When the opportunity arose I immediately knew that I wanted Gerard to step up into the CCO role. He is well proven within our walls,” said Sjoenell. “Gerard arrived at BBH with an outstanding creative pedigree and has done incredible work here for our clients. His ability to rally people and solve our clients’ toughest problems makes him the perfect choice.”
Watson is a 14-year BBH veteran. Her notable achievements include a Grand Prix win for Netflix work, and breakthrough work for the office’s flagship account, PlayStation. Watson is known for championing gender inclusion, serving as chair of Cannes’ inaugural See It Be It program, as well as access for talent from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds through the Beautiful Minds program she founded.
