Pelle Sjoenell, worldwide chief creative officer of BBH, is departing the agency to become CCO at Activision Blizzard, the global video game developer, publisher and distributor. Joakim “Jab” Borgström, the current CCO of BBH Singapore, has been announced as Sjoenell’s successor, taking the agency’s worldwide creative reins.
Borgström has worked in the industry for two decades and has spent the last five years of his career at BBH. He started out as group creative director at BBH London in 2014, before moving to Singapore to take up the top creative role at the end of 2016. Under his tenure, the agency has produced standout, broad ranging examples of modern creativity such as “Human Catalogue” for IKEA and “Go BKK,” “Hypercourt” and “Battle Force Live” for Nike. Earlier this year, the agency launched an innovative new storytelling format in the form of the Nike Women Instazine, a sports magazine built for the social media generation.
Prior to BBH, Borgström held leadership roles at Goodby Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco, Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam and DoubleYou in Barcelona. Originally hailing from Sweden, Borgström has worked in five different countries and speaks as many languages.
Sjoenell joined BBH in 2007. Following three years spent in New York, he moved to the West Coast to launch BBH Los Angeles. The office was started with the ambition to explore the intersection of advertising, entertainment and technology, and now counts the likes of Samsung, Google, T-Mobile and E! amongst its clients. Pelle was promoted to worldwide CCO of BBH in 2016.
Neil Munn, global CEO of BBH, said, “Pelle has been with BBH for over a decade and has made a substantial contribution to our business in that time. He set up our thriving office in L.A. and has nurtured our accelerating presence across North America. Of course, you never want to lose a great leader, but we do so with excitement for what lies ahead in his next chapter, and a sense of pride in what he will go on to achieve. I am delighted that we are able to promote Jab into the worldwide chief creative officer role. He is proven on the global stage and, after five years as a Black Sheep, is already a fine carrier of the BBH creative flag. Jab’s progressive view on creativity is sure to be an energizing catalyst for the whole of our business.”
Sjoenell said: “To lead BBH creatively has been the honor of my life. To have worked alongside Neil Munn, my partner in crime, and had the mentorship of Sir John Hegarty, my hero, has been absolutely incredible and I am eternally grateful. I never thought I’d do anything else after 12 years, but Activision and the future of gaming hits right where my dreams and passions have always lied. To pass this amazing baton to Jab feels so damn good. He’s someone I have looked up to and been inspired by throughout the years and I feel very confident that the Black Sheep will be in the hands of a great creative leader and shepherd.”
Borgström said: “I feel honored and humbled to have been given the responsibility to carry the Black Sheep flag and walk it into the future. I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity. If this is a dream, please don’t wake me up.”
