Battery, the highly esteemed Los Angeles, Toronto and Chicago-based creative agency, experiences a wave of growth across every department, welcoming twelve new full-time hires plus internal promotions to the team.
Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer Philip Khosid speaks to the expansion, “Since the start of the new year, Battery has experienced great fortune via an influx of new work and accounts. It’s prompted us to grow our teams across all fronts – creative, strategy, brand, production, and administrative operations.”
Group Creative Director Mark Maziarz joins the Los Angeles creative team, led by Philip Khosid and Partner/ECD Scott Brown, as well as Andrea Schneider and Michelle Nam, who have received tandem promotions to Group Creative Director. Maziarz brings valuable dual-sided experience from the gaming space as well as traditional advertising; most recently, he was at Riot Games where he created an entire brand platform for the 2022 LCS Season, prior to that he spent 18 years at some of the world’s leading agencies. Additionally, Associate Creative Director Carl Larsson arrives from his native Sweden to support the LA creative team, working across all accounts.
Battery bolsters its Strategy team with Madeleine Reeves, who brings agency experience from BBDO Worldwide and Giant Spoon and who will be working alongside Head of Strategy Sean McNamara in LA on key accounts including Land O’Lakes.
Maddy Guzmán steps into the Sr. Brand Manager role, working primarily with Group Brand Director Zach Hill across gaming accounts. Previously at Petrol Advertising, Guzmán worked on 360-campaigns while leading and managing design projects, films, and events. Her strong history in the gaming space with clients including Activision and JBL will be a great asset for Battery’s new wins within that sphere.
Also based in Chicago is Jessie Wang in the role of Sr. Brand Manager focusing on the Land O’Lakes account, who was the first hire under the appointment of Group Brand Director Pat Dunneback. Rounding out the Chicago team is Miranda Curry in the role of Brand Director. An experienced brand builder as a former executive on the Kellogg’s account at Leo Burnett, Curry’s primary focus at Battery will be the RBC account. The Chicago team will be working closely with Jacky Norris in Los Angeles, who has been promoted from Operations Manager to Brand Coordinator, directing her focus to accounts including Land O’Lakes.
A born and raised Chicagoan, Brand Manager Olivia Weiss has a diverse advertising background, having worked at Ogilvy Chicago, and most recently, on the client side at Oracle and DocuSign. Working with Brown and Hill, Weiss will help support all of the agency’s east coast-based clients, primarily RBC.
Boosting the production department is Digital Producer Melanya Torosyan, Senior Producer Marco Vidalis, and Producer Jessica Shephard. Torosyan comes from Ayzeberg, Media Monks, and Midnight Oil, where she produced digital integrated entertainment initiatives for Hulu, Sony Playstation, and Disney, among others. Experienced at adapting and excelling in fast-paced advertising environments, Vidalis has worked at MullenLowe U.S. and BBH LA, whereas Shepard comes from an eight-year stint at RPA where she produced for the Honda account.
Supporting the hires on all sides is Shane Lay, Operations Manager, who will run day-to-day at Battery HQ in LA. Also on the admin side is Finance Manager Selena Juarez, who brings to the table accounting experience in the production industry, while also being a Board Member at Communities in Schools of LA.
In closing, Khosid remarks: “In the short amount of time, it’s been nothing short of inspiring to witness how each individual has dived into their respective category, and enriched the Battery culture as a whole.”
About Battery
Battery’s mission is to create impactful advertising with a philosophy that merges classic marketing principles with Hollywood storytelling and a Silicon Valley work model. The agency has been recognized as one of the Top 50 Fastest Growing Private Companies in L.A. three years in a row and celebrated by Ad Age as an Agency of the Year in 2018, 2016 and 2015. A lead creative agency of the Paris-based Havas Group, Battery has offices in Hollywood, Toronto and Shanghai and creates global advertising campaigns for forward-thinking clients.
For more information visit www.batteryagency.com
