• by Amy Corr  @MediaPostOTL, January 27, 2017

VML promoted John Godsey and Mike Wente to North American chief creative officers, and hired Craig Badynee as director, creative recruiting. All positions report to Debbi Vandeven, global chief creative officer.

Godsey currently leads the creative department at VML's global headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Godsey spearheaded the "Everything to Prove" branded content series for Gatorade that won a silver Lion in 2012. After that, the agency was awarded 20 more Lions, for work such as Wendy's Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger Love Songs and Nashville's For the Love of Music.

Wente joined VML in 2007 and currently serves as managing director and executive creative director of VML New York. In 2012, Wente took over to manage the New York office in addition to leading creative. Under Wente's leadership the office has more than doubled in size and created work for rands like the International Olympic Committee, New Balance, Chevron, LEGOLAND Florida Resort and Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.

VML hired Craig Badynee as director, creative recruiting. He will be based in Chicago and focus on leading talent acquisition for VML's creative teams across the U.S. Badynee has more than a dozen years of experience creative recruiting for traditional agencies like JWT and FCB, in addition to digital shops like DigitasLBi and Digital Kitchen. At DigitasLBi, he was responsible for hiring creatives from across the world including Brazil, China, England and Norway.