Havas Chicago Lands New ECD

Havas Chicago is naming Paul Hirsch to the newly created executive creative director position to partner with Drew Donatelle, executive creative director of Havas' Millennial agency The Annex; together they will ensure that both agencies are aligned on creative thinking.

Hirsch and Donatelle report directly to Jason Peterson and work closely with Paul Marobella, chairman and CEO of Havas Creative, U.S., and Tatia Torrey, president and chief client officer.

This appointment brings together two long-time friends. “The creative work we produce is very personal to me,” says Peterson. “As are the leaders that I choose to run the creative portion of the business. Every hire I make is with the intention of turning a creative into a creator — and Paul is the perfect guy to bring out our team’s greatness. He and I know each other well — we went to school together and had our first jobs together. He’s a craftsman with a meticulous attention to detail, and I have the utmost personal trust in his capabilities to lead the Chicago office.”

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Hirsch joins Havas from Division of Labor, where he held the positions of co-founder and creative director. He has also spent time at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Leo Burnett and McCANN working with clients including Ford, Nike, CamelBak, Live Nation, Dropbox, Visa, Microsoft and Coke.

Hirsch will help guide Havas Chicago as it evolves away from the traditional agency model. The company created what it calls the first-ever agency and cultural center for Millennials by Millennials called The Annex and operates its own in-house Latino agency.

“We have completely evolved our agency’s offerings over the last few years,” says Peterson. “The focus of our work has been all about social and digital. We’re working with these constantly changing platforms to create some mind-blowing work, but it’s nonstop. We’re working at that rapid pace but now we need a greater focus on the craft and detail that make these creative pieces really work.”

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