W&K poaches Cole from Santo London

By Kate Nettleton, Campaign, Friday, 03 October 2008 12:00AM

Martin Cole, the founding partner of Santo London, has been poached by Wieden & Kennedy to take the role of planning director.

Cole's move comes just six months after he launched the London outpost of the WPP-backed Argentinian agency.

Cole replaces Stuart Smith, who left Wieden & Kennedy in August to join Google's New York-based creative agency, Google Creative Lab, as its planning director.

Cole's departure leaves Pablo Minces, Santo's creative director, at the helm of the London office, but a replacement is being sought for Cole.

Before joining Santo, Cole was the planning director at WPP. Before that, he worked as the planning director on Nokia at Grey and had a spell at Bartle Bogle Hegarty as a planner. He has also produced programmes for Channel 4 and worked as a recording artist with Virgin.

Cole said: "I'm delighted to get a chance to work for Wieden & Kennedy. There are many people inside the agency that I count as friends."

This article was first published on Campaign