Wild Card, a creative advertising and entertainment marketing agency, has hired Evan DeHaven as its executive creative director.
In his new role, DeHaven will oversee the overall creative function and vision for 3AM, the company’s innovation group. In addition, he will be responsible for continuing to grow the business, establish the tone and pace of the company, and build a team environment that delivers on their mission of shaping the future of entertainment marketing. He will partner with current ECD Chris Eyerman and report directly to Wild Card’s CEO, Alison Temple.
“As we strive to be as innovative as possible in how we tell stories for films, TV, games and brands, Evan’s diverse experience is critical,” said Temple. “We will look to Evan in his new role to help us continue to deliver experiences our clients and their audiences are seeking.”
Prior to landing at Wild Card, DeHaven managed internal production for 72andSunny as a CD in Hecho En 72. In his two years there he worked with brands including Google, Activision, Murad, Instagram, Coors, Starbucks, Infiniti, Adidas, Syfy, YouTube, the city of L.A., and Carls Jr.
Before that DeHaven was the global brand director at Nike overseeing marketing across categories and territories world-wide for Nike’s customization efforts and NIKEiD. Prior to Nike, he spent time working at agencies including Genex, 65 Media, DNA Studios, ChiatDay, JWT, Ogilvy, W+K, Schematic, and CPB.
He brings more than 20 years of experience in the entertainment and advertising industries to Wild Card.
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More