Creative digital agency Barbarian has appointed Vince Lim as its chief creative officer. Lim, who was part of the team that created the “Fearless Girl” statue unveiled on Wall Street in 2018 and the creative director behind the “Death of Mr. Peanut” campaign, brings to his new roost nearly 30 years of experience in leveraging technology to help brands embrace culture. Lim will report directly to Barbarian CEO Steven Moy.
Lim’s acumen in technology and experience in R&D will be key in helping Barbarian deliver on innovation as it embraces industry trends like AI, web3, continually evolving social media and more.
CEO May said, “Vince is a natural creative, innovator and storyteller, which makes him a perfect fit for the kind of bold concepts we ideate and execute for our clients. Given his track record, I know he will help our clients define their communication, commerce, and customer relationship initiatives and accomplish the cultural impact they desire.”
Lim said, “My goal is to help foster a culture of inspiration and fun that is at the heart of great creative work. This agency is at an inflection point, as most companies are now, and it is critical we understand the problems our clients are trying to solve and bring our best ideas forward whether that be through mobile app development, web design, social media activations or digital and social commerce..”
Lim brings a global perspective to Barbarian, having spent time in Ireland, Germany, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Most recently, he was the head of creative/executive creative director at Argonaut New York where he led the agency to new heights and launched its East Coast presence. After working at BBDO Dublin as the creative lead on Guinness, Budweiser and Carlsberg, Lim served as creative director at McCann, New York, leading the global brands of Lockheed Martin, Qualcomm, and State Street Global Advisors. He was also the lead creative director on the KraftHeinz account at VaynerMedia.
The addition of Lim is part of a significant growth phase for Barbarian. Since Moy took over as CEO in 2019, Barbarian has added 20 new clients, including AMEX and Post Consumer Goods; launched four new business practices, including its Innovation Labs and Data specialization; grown the business with Samsung into an ongoing partnership; and created a partnership with sports and media personality Jay Williams. In December 2022, Moy also helped launch Barbarian Commerce, a global offering designed to create and operate seamless ecommerce experiences for brands.
Maggie Smith, Star of Stage, Film and “Downton Abbey,” Dies At 89
Maggie Smith, the masterful, scene-stealing actor who won an Oscar for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" in 1969 and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in "Downton Abbey" and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, died Friday. She was 89. Smith's sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, said in a statement that Smith died early Friday in a London hospital. "She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother," they said in a statement issued through publicist Clair Dobbs. Smith was frequently rated the preeminent British female performer of a generation that included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench, with a clutch of Academy Award nominations and a shelf full of acting trophies. She remained in demand even in her later years, despite her lament that "when you get into the granny era, you're lucky to get anything." Smith drily summarized her later roles as "a gallery of grotesques," including Professor McGonagall. Asked why she took the role, she quipped: "Harry Potter is my pension." Richard Eyre, who directed Smith in a television production of "Suddenly Last Summer," said she was "intellectually the smartest actress I've ever worked with. You have to get up very, very early in the morning to outwit Maggie Smith." "Jean Brodie," in which she played a dangerously charismatic Edinburgh schoolteacher, brought her the Academy Award for best actress, and the British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) as well in 1969. Smith added a supporting actress Oscar for "California Suite" in 1978, Golden Globes for "California Suite" and "Room with a View," and BAFTAs for lead actress in "A Private Function" in 1984, "A Room with a View" in... Read More