• Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017
People on the Move
Partners + Napier expands creative department leadership with 2 new GCDs
Mike Baron
  • ROCHESTER, NY
  • --

Partners + Napier had added two new group creative directors, a brand new role at the Rochester-based shop.
 
Creative director Mike Baron, who started at Partners + Napier in 2005, has been promoted to sr. VP, group creative director. And Dan O’Donnell, most recently creative director at MARC USA in Pittsburgh, and a veteran of Arnold, MullenLowe and Hill Holliday, has joined the agency as a group creative director. Both report to executive creative director Pete VonDerLinn.
 
In his newly expanded role, Baron will oversee creative work for Highmark Health Inc., BMW and MINI Financial Services, and Delta Vacations.
 
O’Donnell will oversee creative development for Keurig Green Mountain, BurgerFi, Conduent, Excellus BlueCrossBlueShield, Gannett, Friendship Dairies, Xerox, Bausch + Lomb, and Rochester Regional Health.
 
Over the course of his career, Baron has won many creative awards, including One Show, Tellys, Addys and recognition in Lurzers Archive. Starting as a copywriter and now an experienced director, he has helped some of the world’s best-known brands connect with their customers in their respective industries, including financial services, healthcare, higher education, fashion and outdoor sports. A graduate of St. John Fisher College, Baron has agency experience which also includes stints at Saatchi & Saatchi, Young & Rubicam, and Hill Holliday.
  
At MARC USA, O’Donnell’s primary focus was the Rite-Aid account. Other big brands that have benefited from his creative and business-building expertise over the years include Anheuser-Busch, Dunkin’ Donuts, Samsonite, Ocean Spray and Tyson. O’Donnell has received creative recognition that includes such awards as One Show, CA, and Hatch. An art director by trade, he is a graduate of Boston University.

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