Following WPP’s decision to merge its creative agencies Y&R and VML to create a new agency VMLY&R in September, the network has today announced its global leadership network that includes Paul Nagy’s (main photo) appointment as CCO of the Australias and New Zealand operations.
VMLY&R’s creative organisation will be led by global chief creative officer Debbi Vandeven (pictured below), who was previously Global CCO of VML.
Vandeven is one of very few female global chief creative officers in the industry. She will lead more than 2,000 creatives across the world. Vandeven will report to Jon Cook, VMLY&R Global CEO.
“I’m excited to bring the creative energy of our two agencies, and this tenured team of talent from across the globe, together to create powerful and culturally relevant work for our client partners,” Vandeven said. “Our aim is to find new impactful ways to create connected brands and, most importantly, drive value for our client partners.”
Cook added: “Since joining VML in 2000, Debbi has fostered a collaborative creative environment that delivers innovative work driven by inspiring connections across the connected consumer experience for clients around the world. Under her leadership, VML experienced unprecedented award recognition, including being named Cannes Lions Entertainment Agency of the Year two years in a row. She will, undoubtedly, continue that momentum in her new role.”
For his part, Nagy has more than 20 years of experience leading international agencies and brands. He has been awarded gold at all major international award shows – including Cannes, Award and the Effies – and his work has been included in WARC’s “100 Smartest Marketing Campaigns In The World” in 2014, the “Best of the Best” award at AIMIA and B&T’s Campaign of the Year in 2015 for Dolmio “Pepper Hacker.” This year for Y&R, he has won gold at Cannes, AdStars, and the London International Awards, in addition to a Grand Prix at Spikes Asia.
In other global appointments…
Jaime Mandelbaum has been named regional CCO of Europe. He has served as chief creative officer of Y&R Europe since January 2016.
He has been instrumental in driving award-winning work in the region. Under his leadership, Y&R brought home the first and second Gold Cannes Lions for the Czech Republic as well as the first Grand Prix for Turkey in 2015. Y&R EMEA ranked #1 regional network of the year at Cannes Lions 2017. And recently, he was named to the Golden Drum Hall of Fame. He has worked across three continents with top global brands like Adidas, Absolut Vodka, Bel, BBC, BMW, Chanel, Coca-Cola, Danone, Forbes, Harley Davidson, LG, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Playstation, Volvic and Vodafone. He previously served as chief creative officer for the Central and Eastern Europe region and first joined the agency in March of 2010 as chief creative officer of Y&R Prague. He has also worked with agencies including TBWA Berlin, Leo Burnett Prague, Jung von Matt Hamburg and Kaspen Jung von Matt.
Martin “Nino” Goldberg has been named regional CCO of LATAM. He will continue to serve as regional CCO of LATAM and executive creative director for Telefónica and Movistar globally. In addition, he will continue his role as CCO of Dhélet VMLY&R, a creative boutique based in Argentina that serves both local and global WPP projects.
Prior to joining Y&R, he worked at Lowe, DDB, McCann and TBWA. Throughout his career, he has led communications for global brands such as Coca-Cola, Danone, Visa, Colgate, The International Olympic Committee, Red Cross and Unilever, among others. He has been a speaker, jury member and awarded in the top industry festivals: Cannes, Clio, One Show, London Festival, New York Festival, El Ojo de Iberoamérica, El Sol, FIAP and Effie. Goldberg was selected as one of Forbes’ 35 under 35.
Ryan McManus has been named regional CCO, South Africa. Under his leadership, VML South Africa experienced phenomenal growth and climbed the creative rankings, including being named Entertainment Agency of the Year at Cannes 2017 and Bookmarks Agency of the Year 2016 and 2014.
He has been recognised numerous times at Cannes Lions, D&AD, Loeries, One Show, Art Directors Club, Effie Awards, New York Festivals and more, and brings a wealth of global experience and clear purpose into his work, having travelled and worked across some of the world’s top agencies. Before joining VML, McManus co-founded jointhepipe.org, a nongovernmental organization that won Best New Initiative from UNICEF. He also co-founded The Soon Institute, a company focused on prototyping futures within the communication industry. McManus has been listed in Mail & Guardian’s “200 Young South Africans” list and The Media’s Top 40 Under 40. He also sits on the executive committee of Creative Circle in South Africa.
Kalpesh Patankar has been named regional CCO, Middle East and North Africa. He previoulsy served as Regional Executive Creative Director of Middle East and North Africa, based in Dubai.
In 2018 he was named among the top 10 Global Agency Leaders by Adweek. Patankar has been one of the most effective and awarded creatives in the region. He has created celebrated work for Coca-Cola, Harvey Nichols, Landrover, Colgate and many others. Before joining the agency, he led creative in Asia with Saatchi & Saatchi Mumbai and Ogilvy Singapore. At Ogilvy Singapore he worked on DBS, the largest bank in the region, and at Saatchi & Saatchi his work for Ariel made him the No.1 ranked creative in India and helped the agency become the most awarded in 2000. At Cannes Lions, he helped Y&R EMEA become Regional Network of the Year in 2017 and the 4th most creative agency in 2013.
