Williams and Mulligan join Brave Spark expansion drive

MSQ_PartnersMSQ-owned creative studio Brave Spark is aiming to capitalise on 2023’s “record breaking” year, which saw the agency double in size and open a New York office, with two senior appointments.

The agency, which has also scooped a raft of new clients, including Virgin Experience Days, Which?, Trivento and ThermoFisher, has drafted in Matt Williams from his role as the global head of marketing for MSQ, and Katie Mulligan from Wunderman Thompson (now VML), to help drive the business forward.

 

As new business and marketing director, Williams has been tasked with implementing and delivering Brave Spark’s new proposition, bringing its growth story to a wider audience and helping the studio identify and deliver new opportunities.

Williams, a former Campaign journalist and content editor, has worked within the MSQ group for the past five years, initially joining in 2019 as head of content. Prior to that he spent seven years at Engine (now House 337), latterly as head of editorial content.

He will take on the role of  in March, working closely with Brave Spark’s founders, Rob Drake and Robin Shek, as well as recently appointed managing director Rebecca Vickery.

Meanwhile, Katie Mulligan has joined Brave Spark as its first strategy director, to help define, deliver and steer the strategic output of the agency, working closely with creative, account teams and clients to build campaigns that resonate with real people in the real world.

At Wunderman, she helped lead strategy for brands including Avon, KitKat and Quality Street. She has also spent time at Grey London, The Future Factory, as well as a two-year stint at WPP Black Ops, delivering the strategy behind SK-II’s Olympic sponsorship campaign.

She will now work across Brave Spark’s global client list, in partnership with the agency’s recently appointed executive creative director, Juliet McLaren, and reporting into Rob Drake.

The agency, which became part of MSQ in 2021, made further senior hires last year, including business director Rita Diria, who joined from McCann London, and design lead Beatrice Hug, who joined from Karma Drinks.

Robin Shek said: “Brave Spark’s philosophy has always been to build an agency that’s at the cutting edge, with fresh thinking that helps clients solve the challenges they face in dynamic ways. Bringing in new talent like Katie and Matt is another important step – they’re collaborative, energetic and bursting with ideas, which is exactly what we’re looking for as we keep evolving our modern, vibrant leadership team.”

Williams added: “Rob and Robin have put together a wonderfully diverse team of thinkers and makers and I’ve seen first-hand the vibrancy of their output and the culture that has been created. There’s a brilliant story to tell, exciting ambitions to achieve and I’m really pleased to be a part of the next stage in the journey.”

Mulligan concluded: “I’m super excited to be joining Brave Spark at a crucial point in their ascension. Their collective energy and desire to do things differently compelled me to jump onboard and I can’t wait to get cracking.”

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