BBDO New York announced that Tara DeVeaux will be joining the agency as chief marketing officer. In this role, DeVeaux will report to John Osborn, CEO of BBDO New York, and be responsible for driving business growth and optimizing the agency’s marketing service offerings. In addition, the agency announced that Crystal Rix has been promoted to chief strategy officer. Rix was most recently director of business development. She is also a key member of the AT&T new agency model–a role she will continue. Both appointments are reflective of the ongoing transformation that has taken place at BBDO New York over the past year as the agency bolsters its specialist data and analytic capabilities and communications planning practice.
DeVeaux’s appointment as CMO at BBDO is a homecoming of sorts, as she previously spent nearly seven years at BBDO as a sr. account director. Most recently, she was president of MING Utility and Entertainment Group.
Rix has been with BBDO for more than 10 years, beginning as a sr. brand strategist. That background provided a unique perspective in her most recent role as director of business development, where she was instrumental in helping to win new business, such as Mattel, and shaping the agency’s new data-driven approach for handling the consolidated AT&T business. As chief strategy officer, she will continue to lead strategic guidance of the AT&T brand, as well as oversee the agency’s newly consolidated strategic practice, including communications planning and data and marketing science. She is a recipient of one of BBDO New York’s People Awards. Rix will report to Kirsten Flanik, president of BBDO New York.
DeVeaux and Rix join a senior management team that has already been rapidly expanding to include those in other specialist areas. Key hires include: Tina Allan, head of data and analytics; Sharona Sankar-King, head of marketing science; Julian Cole, head of communications planning; Denise Henry, head of the agency’s HealthWork partnership with CDM Group; and Dave Rolfe, head of integrated production.
DeVeaux joins BBDO New York the week of January 16; Rix assumes her new role immediately.
