Andy Bird, the creative partner at Nitro, is joining Ogilvy Advertising just as two of the agency's creative partners, Richard Russell and Neil Dawson, walk out of the door.
Bird, who along with Bruce Crouch was a founder of Soul, will partner Will Awdry on Dove and takes up his new role in February. Crouch is also quitting Nitro, although his plans have yet to emerge.
Russell and Dawson's exit breaks up the group of six creative partners that Ogilvy has invested in over the past two years. The remaining partners are Awdry, Dennis Lewis, Greg Burke and Alistair Graham.
Russell is leaving to join Saatchi & Saatchi, where he will work on the European Toyota business. Dawson, meanwhile, is joining DDB to become the global creative director on Philips.
Dawson joined Ogilvy in January 2005 from TBWA\London, where he was a creative partner and oversaw the BP and Castrol accounts.
Russell joined the agency in 2004 from Wieden & Kennedy, where he had worked on much of its highly regarded Honda work. He joined the Amsterdam office in 2000 before moving to its London office.
Malcolm Poynton, Ogilvy's executive creative director, said: "This is stage one of a revamp in pursuit of everything we believe is important. Great ads are more than TV and print. We're building a team that can deliver big ideas.
"Andy Bird is a enormously respected talent with a great pedigree and a knack for combining commercial nous with his creative ideas."
Bird, an art director, was one of the four Bartle Bogle Hegarty directors who quit the agency in 2000 to start Soul, which was then purchased by Nitro in June 2005.
During his time at BBH, Bird worked on accounts including Boddingtons, Levi's, Murphy's and Lynx.
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