Dave Weist has been named chief creative officer at integrated strategy, creative and media agency Hill Holliday. Weist was promoted from EVP, head of brand.
Prior to joining Hill Holliday earlier this year, Weist was at MullenLowe, where he was ECD of the Boston and New York offices. He opened New York from scratch and helped grow that into a 180-person full-service global offering.
Aside from being a proven creative leader, Weist is all about the team. He loves partnering with all agency disciplines, clients and of course creatives. His teams have won every major international creative award many times over as well as the Grand Effie and three Gold Effies for the most effective campaigns in the world as measured over a five-year period.
“This is any creative person’s dream job,” said Weist. “Hill Holliday is a 56-year-old start-up. A place that’s as much of an evolving idea as it is an institution, the agency is filled with people who have an ambition that leads to the next great opportunity. I’m excited to work with Chris [Wallrapp, CEO] and the team and to be part of that growth.”
At MullenLowe, Weist shaped brands like JetBlue, Royal Caribbean, E-TRADE, Acura, Google, American Greetings, Hyatt, US Cellular, Burger King, KFC and many more. Prior to MullenLowe, Weist was creative director at Modernista, building brands like Cadillac, HUMMER, TIAA and (red). Before that he was a writer at Arnold Worldwide, where he started his career on Volkswagen, winning the Cannes Grand Prix and collaborating with Steve Jobs on the Apple co-branding effort, pods unite.
“Personally, I worked with Dave at Modernista,” said Wallrapp. ”I’ve seen firsthand what we can accomplish creatively, as well as the way he leads clients and his teams. His motto has always been if you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far, go together–and I can’t think of a more perfect motto for us at this point in time.”
Weist is upped to CCO at a time of great momentum for Hill Holliday, which was acquired by the Attivo Group earlier this year. Recently the agency was selected by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism to create its new tourism campaign highlighting the history, attractions, unique culture, and vibrant businesses of its home state.
