Four have been added to the ranks of Oakland-based agency Funworks: Jiangzi Tan (Tanny) as sr. art director, Kevin Turner as sr. copywriter, Claire Crozier as sr. account director and Nicole Dongara as account director.
Tan was sr, art director at both mcgarrybowen and Argonaut, working with Intel, Disney, and Fitbit. Turner joins from Oakland agency EVB as sr. copywriter, where he worked with a range of clients like Jameson Irish Whiskey, Pandora and the LA Clippers.
Crozier previously built her management career at Collinson, eventually becoming the global account cirector. For a decade, she collaborated with financial services, airline, hotel and retail brands, helping shape their loyalty initiatives, customer benefits and reward programs.
Dongara most recently worked at BBDO, managing communication planning and campaign development for American Girl, Barbie and Fisher Price. Before that, she worked at Havas, driving ROI for condom brand Durex and helping to lead a successful holiday communications plan for eBay.
Attracting talent into the shop, said Funworks CEO Paul Charney, is a natural result of the success of its improv-inspired Funworkshops, a method for clients and creatives to quickly generate great ideas. “This rush of new talent is a signal that people are eager to explore new ways of collaboration,” he related.
The extreme collaboration Funworkshops include clients, agency staff, and comedian consumers who act as a neutral third party. Workshop exercises get to truths and strategies in a relaxed, positive environment, helping to gain alignment from all decision makers on the best ideas. According to Funworks, the resulting work is sold on the first round 90 percent of the time, far outperforming the traditional creative process.
