DigitasLBi Hires Scott Holmes as ECD, Branded Content

DigitasLBi has boosted its UK creative department by hiring Scott Holmes as Executive Creative Director, Branded Content and Darren Wood as Creative Director.

The hires are part of DigitasLBi’s continued efforts to build a creative team with diverse skills and backgrounds.

Holmes joins from global media agency UM, where he was European Creative Director. He joined UM as a Junior Media Planner in 2002 and was Strategy Director EMEA before taking on creative leadership internationally in 2011.

During his time at UM, Holmes helped the agency gain the accolade of Number 1 Media Agency for Creativity in WARC survey of more than 200 clients. He has been the creative force behind a number of award-winning campaigns, including Xbox ‘Glitch’, which picked up Gold at the Festival of Media 2015 and Brand Republic Digital Awards; and Halo 4 ‘The Roll of Honour’, a first-of-its-kind campaign which involved integrating Facebook profile photos and Xbox Live player data into TV spots.

At DigitasLBi, Holmes will be responsible for developing and maturing DigitasLBi’s branded content offering, with a focus on talent, partnerships and creative media thinking.

Wood joins DigitasLBi from digital experience design agency Critical Mass in Canada, where he was a Senior Art Director managing a team of 10 creatives and developers, and overseeing technologically complex projects from concepting through to execution. His projects range from creating the first commercial uses of Kinect for Windows, to building a bike-mounted atmospheric monitor from scratch, to creating an augmented reality face paint app. His work has won multiple awards, with recent accolades including an A&AD Pencil for Digital Design and two New York Festivals finalists for Nissan’s ‘Diehard Fan’.

At DigitasLBi, Wood will lead creative for a number of key accounts, with a focus on bringing tech thinking into the creative process.

Holmes will report to Chris Clarke, DigitasLBi’s Chief Creative Officer, International, with a dotted line into Paul Dalton, Chief Media Officer, International. Wood will report to Helen Fuchs, Executive Creative Director, with a dotted line into Scott Ross, Chief Technology Officer, International.

Scott Holmes, Executive Creative Director, Branded Content, DigitasLBi said: “I felt an instant affinity with Chris and the team at DigitasLBi. Not only are they great people, but they also have uniquely complete expertise across creative, technology, data and media. I’m really excited about working with them to find new ways of telling stories and creating content that people care about.”

Darren Wood, Creative Director, DigitasLBi said: “I’m inspired by DigitasLBi’s ambition and focus on innovation, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with their clients, combining tech and creativity to transform their marketing across multiple channels, from communications and experiences through to new products and services.”

Chris Clarke, Chief Creative Officer, International, DigitasLBi added: “I’m really pleased to be welcoming two world-class talents, Scott and Darren, into the fold. It’s all part of our drive to hire creatives who come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Scott is an outstanding creative thinker who develops ideas which use media in new, exciting ways, while Darren combines a heritage of tech expertise with creative chops. We’re also planning to add talent from the worlds of fashion PR and publishing in the coming months.”