• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, August 8, 2013

Havas Worldwide has poached BBDO’s Darren Moran for the dual role of Chief Creative Officer, Havas Worldwide New York and Co-Chief Creative Officer, Havas Worldwide North America. He’ll oversee all creative work for the New York agency’s clients.

Most recently the 23-year agency veteran was Executive Creative Director at BBDO New York, where he worked across the agency’s brand roster and on new business pitches.  Previously he was CCO at Draftfcb New York where he’s credited with helping to reinvigorate the Oreo brand. Earlier he was Global Creative director at Y&R where he created campaigns for LG, Bacardi, Burger King and others.

Moran joins a senior leadership team at Havas that includes Jason Peterson, CCO and Co-president of the agency’s Chicago office, and who shares the North American co-CCO title with Moran. The agency said Moran would be “working closely” with other senior people at the agency including creative honchos Phil Silvestri and Rich Roth, and Lee Garfinkel, who had led the New York creative team and remains chairman of the New York office.

"Darren is one of the most creative minds in the industry, and, even more impressively, he's had tremendous success across both traditional media and digital," stated Andrew Benett, Global President of Havas Worldwide and CEO of Havas Worldwide New York, who informed the troops by memo today of Moran’s arrival.

Moran is the latest in a string of new senior hires this year at the agency that includes Patti Clifford, Global Chief Talent Officer, Matt Weiss, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Vin Farrell, Global Chief Content Officer, Sean Lyons, Global Chief Digital Officer, and Tim Maleeny, Chief Strategy Officer for Havas Worldwide New York and Co-CSO for Havas Worldwide North America.  

Those hires are part of broad effort that began last year to up the agency’s game that also included a rebranding from Euro RSCG to Havas Worldwide.