Kitcatt Nohr Digitas creative chief Phil Keevill has become the most high profile victim of a reported round of cost-cutting at the agency, leaving after nearly five years in the role.
Among the most experienced names in the industry and a regular on awards juries, Keevill started his career in adland at J Walter Thompson in 1984, working for clients such as Guinness, the RAF, the Guardian, Remy Martin and Kellogg’s.
He then joined BMP Young Clark Craig, where he embraced direct marketing techniques and formed a long-term partnership with copywriter Simon Kershaw.
They then moved to the fledgling Craik Jones Watson Mitchell Voelkel, where they worked for 11 years, on Land Rover, BT, Cable and Wireless and Parcelforce, and scooped many of the industry’s top awards.
They went on to set up Keevill Barton Kershaw – with former O&M man Steve Barton – in December 2003, but after three and a half years they went their separate ways. Following a spell in Cheltenham at TDA, Kershaw is now freelancing; Barton is global partner at OgilvyOne.
In 2006, Keevill took up the creative director’s role at Kitcatt Nohr, which was bought by Publicis last year and merged with digital agency Digitas. Yet it is understood a number of account losses, combined with duplication of roles, has triggered a scaling back of the operation. Keevill is now freelancing.
One recommendation on LinkedIn said: “Phil is as open minded and encouraging a creative director as you could hope for. He loves people taking creative risks and pushing an idea as far as it will go. He is also a believer in and advocate of the sort of craft skills that are sadly disappearing from agency life, such as typography.”
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