we are: london Appoint Former NOKIA Director To Support Growth

 

 

Creative, insight-led marketing and digital agency, we are:london, today announces the appointment of Francesco Cara to the role of Director of Research. He joins the we are:london team from his role as Director of Portfolio Management at Nokia.

 

 

 

Italian-born Francesco will focus on the agency’s client-facing business whilst expanding the research capabilities of the agency. In developing the capacity for insight-led strategic direction, the agency will continue to forge collaborative and enduring relationships with both current and future clients.

 

 

 

Francesco Cara brings with him seven years experience of driving insight-led innovations into Nokia’s portfolio. Under his leadership, Nokia introduced the dynamic widget-based home screen used in all Nokia phones, the best selling low-cost qwerty C3 phone optimised for messaging, social networking and browsing, and the Nokia 3G Booklet as an intermediate device between the mobile phone and the laptop.

 

 

 

On hiring Francesco, Founder and Managing Director, Chris Averill says: “We’re currently going through a focused period of growth and bringing Francesco into the fold is instrumental in the agency’s strategic direction. Our ambition is not simply to grow in size, but to grow in capabilities by establishing a mobile product and service innovation team. Francesco’s experience and expertise fit perfectly with the agency’s current culture and future plans.”

 

 

 

On joining the we are:london team, Francesco Cara says: “After seven years in a corporate environment, I was looking for the opportunity to join a smaller creative organisation and use my energy and experience to sustain its growth.  We are:london fits the bill. It’s nimble, innovative and fast-growing with an excellent reputation and world-class clients.” He continues, “The way the agency is managed encourages a collaborative culture and allows creative talents and innovation to thrive.”

 

 

 

Francesco is no stranger to a growing business model. In the early nineties he founded CBJ which went on to become a pioneer of user-centred design in Europe. In 1999, CBJ was acquired by global web agency IconMedialab (now LBi) as its centre of excellence in research and design. With the teams at IconMedialab, he created some landmark web experiences such as the 2nd generation Ferrari.com and the 1st generation ViaMichelin.com navigation site, bringing together Michelin’s famous maps, guides and books.

 

 

 

In addition, Francesco holds both an MSc and PhD in Cognitive Science from Edinburgh University and has authored several academic articles on interaction, user-centred design and communication.