Following a year of significant growth and transformation, FleishmanHillard UK is investing significantly in external and internal talent in its Creative + Planning team to support the established team and meet client and agency demand.
In 2022, the agency is building out its global Creative studios network by bringing together studio, content and production teams and concept creatives to deliver fully integrated marketing communication campaigns at scale.
Dominic Payling, ex-MSL strategy lead and board director joins FleishmanHillard as head of planning UK, Ahalya Moxon joins from Teneo as associate creative director, reporting to creative director Ellie Tuck and current planning director, Depali O’Connell has been promoted to managing director, Creative + Planning UK and joins the senior leadership team.
The recruitment of Dominic Payling, who has headed up planning and strategy at MSL for over a decade securing a Cannes Lion in the process, represents an inflexion point for the UK planning team as it seeks to grow even further this year, whilst looking ahead to next-generation planning support.
Ahalya Moxon’s arrival as associate creative director up weights the team of concept creatives led by creative director Ellie Tuck, including Rachel O’Malley, Ellie Scott-Smith and TJ Jordan.
Other new team members include internal appointments: Eleanor Clarke, junior planner, and Rianna Joseph, production co-ordinator. The team continues to invest in planning and creative apprentices whilst supporting industry apprenticeships; Jamal Johnson has joined the team as a junior creative from the Taylor Bennett Foundation.
Kev O’Sullivan, who led the inception and creation of the team, is moving up through the agency to focus on his Global ECD role; leading creative for some of FleishmanHillard’s largest clients, such as AT&T, Krispy Kreme, and J&J among others.
The promotion of Depali O’Connell to managing director, Creative + Planning will see her take over the day-to-day leadership of the UK Creative + Planning team.
Ali Gee, deputy CEO, UK and global MD of client strategy said, ‘We are thrilled to announce the promotion of Depali and hugely excited to welcome Dominic and Ahalya. Our Creative + Planning team sits at the very heart of our offer for clients. Our commitment to seeking out and nurturing planning and creative talent is testament to how we care passionately and relentlessly about doing the best work, with the best people in our industry.’
FleishmanHillard has moved Creative and Planning to the centre of its business strategy, not only hiring some of the top talent in the business but launching extensive creative programming throughout the agency to inspire creativity and drive transformative impact for its clients.
Through the agency’s “Bend the World” creative ambition and systematised scale, the agency has articulated a distinct creative point of view and lens through which it can define, develop, deliver and measure creativity.
FleishmanHillard’s quarterly and annual internal Bend the World Awards showcase evaluates the agency’s best creative to continuously raise the bar for great work that drives its clients’ businesses forward.
As a creative Centre of Excellence for FleishmanHillard, these moves support the London team’s commitment to the agency’s global creative ambition to put its strategy and creative process at the heart of the work across the agency.
