Duncan Channon Names John Kovacevich as Executive Creative Director
San Francisco independent advertising agency Duncan Channon, a two-time Ad Age Small Agency of the Year in the West, today announced the hire of John Kovacevich as executive creative director. The addition of Kovacevich as ECD expands Duncan Channon’s creative team in response to agency growth.
Kovacevich joins Duncan Channon after three and a half years as a freelance creative director and writer, working directly with brands like Facebook, Airbnb and Google, as well as with agencies including 215McCann and Mekanism. His career includes stints at Goodby Silverstein & Partners and FCB West.
“John’s creative talent impressed immediately, and is rooted in a deeper understanding of our clients’ business challenges,” said Michael Lemme, chief creative officer, Duncan Channon. “He freelanced with us this summer and we just decided we didn’t want him to leave. He was a fit from day one.”
“New business wins have allowed us to add a talent of John’s caliber to our senior leadership team, so it’s an exciting chapter for us,” said Andy Berkenfield, CEO, Duncan Channon. “At a time when our agency is growing, he’s the type of creative leader you want -- smart, funny and people just love working with him. We’re lucky to have someone like John who enjoys helping younger creatives find their voice as much as he does creating big ideas for clients.”
Kovacevich, who will report to Lemme, will work on a variety of clients, including some of Duncan Channon’s new engagements. The agency has added Kat Von D Beauty, the Golden State Warriors, InnovAsian Cuisine and TriNet, a leading cloud-based provider of HR services, to its client roster this year. These recent wins come in addition to a significant expansion of the agency’s anti-tobacco work for the California Department of Public Health’s CA Tobacco Control Program in 2018.
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“I was impressed with the way the whole team approaches creative,” added Kovacevich. “The work respects the audience and cares about craft. It’s a crew that I wanted to be in business with.”
Kovacevich, who writes regularly about advertising topics, explained his decision to join Duncan Channon in a piece called “5 Reasons I Hung Up My Freelance Shingle to Go Full Time.”
He was the person behind the satirical 97% Conference twitter feed that used humor to draw attention to gender parity issues in advertising and an admittedly insane project to write a personal note to all 1,109 of his LinkedIn contacts. Before his advertising days, Kovacevich was well known in the Bay Area improv theatre and sketch comedy scenes where he performed with such groups as BATS Improv, True Fiction Magazine, and Killing My Lobster. He still thinks improv is the best training for any advertising creative.
