Oliver Group, the inhouse agency specialist, has appointed former Proximity London creative chief Rob Kavanagh to take on the role of executive creative director across a number of key client accounts.
He is the second ECD that Oliver Group has appointed this year; R/GA group creative director Andrew Ferguson was hired in February.
Kavanagh (pictured, left) will be reunited with former Proximity deputy chairman Sharon Whale and report to UK chief creative officer Brian Cooper (pictured, right). His remit is to extend the agency’s integrated and CRM expertise across its client roster, as well as lead creative capability across his client portfolio.
Kavanagh brings two decades of experience at agencies that include Harrison Troughton Wunderman, Ogilvy & Mather, and Craik Jones.
Most recently at Proximity, Kavanagh was instrumental in delivering the award winning work for The Economist, as well as spearheading campaigns for TV Licensing, RNLI and Lloyds Bank. He left the agency in February.
Cooper said: “Rob is a modern day creative; his knowledge spans digital, copywriting and branding, all highly sought-after capabilities as our industry continues to transform. With more and more of our clients giving data-led visions pride of place, we want the talent to meet these needs head on.
“Rob’s expertise will help us to balance creative and digital to bring our clients’ solutions to life.”
Kavanagh added: “The transformative creative work that I’ve been a part of over the years has always started way upstream at the business problem, rather than the brief. That’s where Oliver plays every day with our clients. The on-site Oliver model is really breaking the agency mould – and it’s what excited me about this role.”
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