Dave Harris, one of the industry’s most experienced and respective creative chiefs, has left Deloitte six years after joining the business as its first creative director to set up its in-house agency.
The move follows Deloitte’s decision to close down the 93-strong unit, despite the fact it has won nearly 40 creative and effectiveness awards over the past three years for its advertising and marketing campaigns.
Harris, who was promoted to executive creative director and head of agency in 2022, posted on LinkedIn: “It’s been one of my favourite experiences, taking a barely functioning DTP studio and turning it into an enthusiastic, professional agency team.
“In addition to getting the basics sorted, we assembled specialists teams to ensure our work had cut-through and landed the most compelling messages with the most influential people.
“We built a documentary team to tell complex transformation stories; brought infographic designers into the mix to help make data more meaningful and beautiful; we helped turn events into defining immersive and memorable experiences.
“In all, we hired 93 individually talented people working across creative, film, strategy, campaign and project management, social, digital and events. But all exciting journeys come to an end. In November, Deloitte’s in house agency was disbanded.
“You’ll hear more from each of us in the near future, but for now, thank you to everyone who helped make it so much fun!”
Harris has held senior creative roles for nearly 30 years, dating back to his first ECD post at IMP in 1995.
Within four years, Harris had joined forces with Lisa Thomas to launch M&C Saatchi-owned Lida, and, in 2007, he took up the role of ECD at Wunderman, where he stayed for over six years. He then had a short stint at DraftFCB but quit, along with London agency boss Kate Howe only for the duo to be reunited at Gyro in 2015.
Howe became UK chief growth officer for parent Dentsu Aegis Network, and chairman of Gyro in November last year and Harris stepped down in January 2019.
Deloitte launched its in-house agency in the UK in 2018, combining events, marketing delivery, CRM, studio and digital teams into an in-house agency model.
At the time of his appointment, Harris said: “I went into advertising to create work that people would talk about, that would fondly stay in their minds and with soundtracks they’d whistle along to. I’m looking forward to developing campaigns which cut through the noise, create an impact and reflect variety, innovation and integrity.”
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