Leo Burnett London has appointed alumnus Mark Elwood as executive creative director, 22 years after he first joined the agency as a typographer.
Elwood joins from MullenLowe London, where he has been executive creative director since October 2017.
Reporting to chief creative officer Chaka Sobhani, Elwood will be responsible for the day-to-day running of Leo Burnett's creative department, with clients including Betfair, Butlin’s, Kellogg and McDonald's.
The appointment follows a series of wins at the agency in 2019, including Axa, Gulf Oil, Iceland and McCormick.
"These are exciting times at Leo’s," Sobhani said. "We’re winning business and building our creative muscle to get to bigger and better, proudly populist work. And key to that is getting the best people in to help us continue to grow.
"I’m so excited to have Mark join our crew – someone who lives and breathes creativity, and has the biggest heart for both people and ideas."
Elwood began his career as a typographer at Leo Burnett in 1998, with past roles including head of design at Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO.
He spent six years as a partner and creative director at Fallon from 2004 to 2010, before becoming a founding partner and executive creative director at 101 London a decade ago. 101 was merged into MullenLowe in 2017.
"Mark’s energy, drive and hard graft are an example to us all," Jeremy Hine, chief executive of MullenLowe Group UK, said.
"Our award-winning campaigns for the NHS and other great work for Wagamama, Bupa, Bahlsen, British Heart Foundation, Dunelm and Subaru – to name just a few – are testament to his huge passion for ideas, craft and the business as a whole."
Elwood added: "I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved here [at MullenLowe] in the last few years. Agencies are shaped by great people with a clear vision, tons of ambition and an energy to succeed. Chaka, Charlie and the rest of the team have all of those important qualities and they put creativity first. Which has made them impossible to turn down. I cannot wait to join in."
In October 2019, Bartle Bogle Hegarty's Carly Avener joined Leo Burnett London as managing director, after 13 years at its sister Publicis Groupe shop.
.jpg)
.jpeg)
