McCann Sustains Momentum with Key Creative Promotions and Hiring

McCann has announced a series of key senior creative promotions as well as an expansion of its creative department that build on the agency’s client growth momentum. The talent expansion involving eight New York-based creatives includes the promotion of Shayne Millington to Global Executive Creative Director and the addition of Matthew Curry as Deputy Chief Creative Officer leading Verizon.

McCann New York also promoted Holly Hessler to Executive Creative Director, and Dominick Baccollo and Jason Ashlock to Group Creative Directors. Cristina Reina and Kathleen O’Brien have joined the agency as Executive Creative Directors, and Camilla Kristiansen as Design Director.

Sean Bryan and Thomas Murphy, the co-CCOs of McCann New York, said, “We are thrilled to be able to add more incredible creative talent to our already amazing team of creatives here in New York. We’re also excited to elevate Shayne, Holly, Dom and Jason to their new roles, and look forward to the entire team driving our success forward throughout 2020.”

Shayne Millington, named Global Executive Creative Director responsible for leading Microsoft creative globally, has over 15 years of experience growing business for some of the most influential brands in the world. Over the course of her career she has developed award-winning work for Microsoft, Macy’s, Verizon, Target, Nike and Procter & Gamble. She most recently received a Titanium Lion, D&AD Black Pencil and Grand Clio awards for her work on Microsoft’s “Changing the Game” and has numerous other accolades, including recognition from Cannes Lions, One Show, D&AD, Clio, Effie and others.

Matthew Curry will lead creative for Verizon as Co-Deputy Chief Creative Officer. He recently served as CCO at Butler Shine, San Francisco. Previous to that, he held senior creative roles at such leading U.S. agencies as 72andSunny, David & Goliath, Ogilvy and BBDO. Curry has won awards from the Emmys, Cannes Lions, One Show, D&AD, Clio and the London International Awards. 

Holly Hessler, Executive Creative Director, has most recently been working on Verizon at McCann. In her 12 years at agencies she has also worked at 72andSunny, Chiat LA, Deutsch LA, and Media Arts Lab on brands such as Apple, Nike, and Target.

Jason Ashlock, Group Creative Director, co-leads creative at McCann on the New York Lottery, Lockheed Martin, Qualcomm and Hornitos Tequila. Throughout his career, he has also worked at R/GA, Johannes Leonardo, BBH, and Deutsch, among other agencies. He has created award-winning work for Google, Jose Cuervo, Beats Music, Mastercard, IKEA and Lockheed Martin, including winning medals across the Film, Cyber and Mobile categories at Cannes.

Dominick Baccollo, Group Creative Director, co-leads creative for the New York Lottery, Lockheed Martin, Qualcomm and Hornitos Tequila at McCann New York. Throughout his career, he has worked on numerous brands, including Microsoft, Lowe’s Home Improvement, FedEx, GE, MLB, Hershey’s and AT&T. His agency experience includes stints at DDB and BBDO NY. His work has been recognized at Cannes, One Show, ANDY, D&AD, Clio, Art Directors Club, Webby, and AICP as well as by CBS News and Fast Company.

Cristina Reina joins as Executive Creative Director, bringing more than a decade of experience developing award-winning campaigns and leading creative teams. Most recently, she was Group Creative Director and Head of Art at DDB NY.  Her work has been recognized at important advertising festivals such as Cannes, One Show, D&AD, Clio, London International Awards, ANDY, ADC, and others.

Kathleen O’Brien, who joins as Executive Creative Director, spent 21 years at Grey New York as a senior creative, rising through the ranks from copywriter to serve as a Group Creative Director on the agency’s portfolio of fashion and beauty brands. She also has worked as a creative on the client side for a number of major fashion and beauty brands. 

Camilla Flesche Kristiansen, who joins as Design Director, founded Snowflake Design eight years ago, and has done work for L’Oréal, Movado, Coach, Nivea, Ikea, Dell and Lenovo. Before founding Snowflake Design, Camilla spent the previous six years at Saatchi & Saatchi-New York, where she was the creative designer for their P&G Beauty Innovation Group. During her last two years there, she was the Head of Design of Saatchi’s creative department.

The hires and promotions follow a year of major creative and effectiveness recognition for McCann New York. McCann was named Adweek’s Agency of the Year in 2019. The agency was also recognized as Agency of the Year by the 2019 LIA and Clio Awards. McCann New York was named Agency of the Year at the 2019 Jay Chiat Awards and shared with Microsoft the Grand Prix for "Microsoft’s “Changing the Game" campaign; and led the recognition by the Effie Awards for Most Effective U.S. Agency Network—for the second year in a row. McCann New York was ranked the #2 Cannes Lions Agency of the Year; the agency has won more than 20 Lions in each of the last four years, something that no other agency has accomplished.