Leagas Shafron Davis is expected to pick an outsider to fill the
creative director’s job vacated by Steve Grime (Campaign, last week).
Rob Janowski, Grime’s deputy, will take temporary charge of the agency’s
five creative teams after Grime leaves to join Mitchell Patterson Aldred
Mitchell.
Ron Leagas, the chairman of Leagas Shafron, said: ‘Although Rob has
terrific craft and leadership skills, he isn’t a natural front man.’
Grime is currently negotiating a leaving date from Leagas Shafron to
become a creative partner and substantial equity holder in Mitchell
Patterson, which is changing its name to Mitchell Patterson Grime
Mitchell.
Leagas Shafron has known for some time that Grime, its creative chief of
four years’ standing, was leaving, but its clients weren’t told until
last Wednesday.
Leagas said: ‘Fortunately, we’ve had a chance to set some plans in
motion. It’s also given us the chance to consider how we might
restructure ourselves creatively and that’s something we’ll be
consulting with Rob about. Even an enforced change can sometimes be for
the better.’
The agency says it has been flooded with enquiries since news broke of
Grime’s departure. But Leagas stressed that an important requirement was
that the new creative director would be good enough to become a key
member of the next generation of senior management.
The change of creative leadership comes at a particularly sensitive time
for the agency, which faces a possible repitch for its Sun Alliance
business following the company’s merger with Royal Insurance.
Leagas said: ‘When an agency is being reviewed by an existing client, a
balance between consistency and change is probably the ideal.’
Newsmaker, p17
