Havas London Bolsters Creative Department with Grey, Droga5 Hires

Havas London has strengthened its burgeoning creative department with the appointment of a trio of multi-Cannes Lions-winning creatives. Droga5 New York’s Matt Swinburne joins as Creative Director, while Grey London’s Jonathan Rands & Alex Tizard join as Senior Creatives.

The appointments follow a significant new business drive by the agency, which has won eight accounts – including Carling, Rekorderlig, Finish, Rolls-Royce, Air Wick and Clearasil – since the turn of the year. Both Swinburne and Rands & Tizard will work across the agency’s entire portfolio of clients, which also includes GSK, Heathrow Airport, Durex, Ella’s Kitchen and Citroën.

Swinburne joins the agency having most recently spent time as Creative Director on Pizza Hut at Droga5 New York, including last year’s No One OutPizzas the Hut campaign – the agency’s first for the brand. Prior to that, he spent two years in the same role at McCann New York, during which time the agency became the most awarded US agency at Cannes (2016). Work included the 3x Cannes-winning Tommee Tippee’s Advice Wipes, NY Lotto’s You’d Make a Way Better Rich Person, and The Most Wonderful Ornament for United States Postal Service.

Before heading to the US, he spent time in London at agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi and Mother, and in his native Southern Hemisphere at Leo Burnett Sydney, Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand and DDB New Zealand – where he created the Cannes gold and silver-winning Live Rescue for the New Zealand Coastguard. He has won more than 40 creative and effectiveness awards, including golds at Cannes, Spikes, LIA, Adfest and the Effies.

Rands & Tizard join following five years at Grey London, where they worked across a number of the agency’s flagship accounts including Lucozade, Tate, The Times & Sunday Times, Greene King, Fairy and, most recently, M&S – devising the retailer’s upcoming back to school campaign.

Notable work includes The Sunday Times’ Icons, which recreated iconic cultural images in a single take and won golds at Creative Circle, British Arrows and Campaign BIG, as well as multiple D&AD pencils and a bronze at Cannes; The Lucozade Sport Conditions Zone, a state-of-the-art football facility built to replicate the heat and humidity of Brazil ahead of the 2014 World Cup, which also won at Cannes; Lucozade Energy’s Find Your Flow, a simple, bold and graphic identity for the energy drink’s £14m brand repositioning; Fairy’s Fair, which saw the iconic household brand change its name to spark a conversation around gender equality in the household; and 500 Years of Stories for Tate, an emotional long-copy retelling of Hogarth’s Gin Lane, voiced by Imelda Staunton, which just won a bronze Lion at Cannes 2017.

The appointments of Swinburne, Rands and Tizard – who all start this month – see Havas London’s creative department grow to 40 people strong. They will report into Ben Mooge, Executive Creative Director.

Mooge says: “A creative company is only as good as the people within in – and in Tiz, Rands and Matt, we’ve bagged ourselves three of the strongest, most interesting and ambitious creative talents in the business right now. These are key hires for us, and a represent a real statement of intent. To attract great people from such a high calibre of agency is testament to the progress we’re making at HKX – and to Havas’ exciting future. There’s a real buzz around the place. We’re on a mission to be the best creative agency in the country. If you’re talented, hungry and want to be part of that journey, give me a call.”