Quick-fire Questions With Isobar Moscow's Creative Group Head Andrey Donov

Over the past two weeks, Isobar UK has had the pleasure of working with Isobar Moscow's Creative Group Head, Andrey Donov. So, while in London, we decided to find out a bit more about his background, what he's worked on, and what he's learnt during his time in the UK.

Andrey took part in a ‘Skill Swap Placement’ as part of Isobar’s learning and development programme, Isobar Academy. Isobar believes in ‘talent without limits’ for its employees, a commitment to providing broad opportunities for its people to develop across borders and disciplines. 

Q> ​Hi Andrey, and welcome to Isobar UK! When did you join the Isobar network and what’s your current role?

AD> Hi, thank you for having me! I joined Isobar in August 2013, so I'll have been with the agency for three years next month. I currently work as a Creative Group Head, which in our agency, is one position before becoming a Creative Director.

Q> What did you do before you joined Isobar in Russia?

AD> Before joining Isobar, I worked in many roles related to media communications in one way or another. I was a news reporter, art gallery curator and a content manager before joining Leo Burnett Moscow, where I stayed for five years. While at Leo Burnett, I made my way up the ranks from Junior Copywriter to​ Senior Copywriter.

Q> What clients do you currently work on?

AD> I'm lucky enough to work on pretty much all agency clients from time to time, although my main clients are Nestlé​​, Danone, Hill's, Astellas, PMI, Infiniti, MTS and Sun InBev.

Q> What’s the work you’re most proud of creating at Isobar?

AD> I really like long-term projects, so one of my favourite stories is of the collaboration between Hill's and Isobar Moscow, which started with a small creative pitch two years ago, and continues to this day. We create all of the digital, as well as some non-digital, assets like CRM, creative, social media, media and even POSM production.

However, if I am to name one project, it would probably be the 'Singing Media Strategy' we made for a Bud pitch in 2014. We treated all media tools as musical instruments, wrote "parts" for them and turned a year long media plan into a real music track that we played in the presentation.

Q> How did the opportunity arise for you to work with Isobar UK?

AD> Like many things in our business, this story began with a concern. My management team was concerned about my professional development, and how (and where) I could sharpen my creative skills. The problem is that in Moscow, Isobar has two equally qualified creative group leads, and I lead one of them. So the agency management asked for help from our global network, and with help from the Global Talent & Development Director for Isobar, Nick Bass and his team, we managed to arrange a trip to London, which I'm really thankful for!

Q> What have you learnt most in your two weeks in the UK?

AD> I've learnt lots in two weeks. Everything from creative processes (brainstorming, idea framing, scamping, creative strategy and structure) to teamwork organisation (workflow management, time management, teamwork coordination). And many-many precious bits and pieces of work experience from a major award-winning creative digital agency,​​ that you can't get anywhere else.