We Are Social Appoints Award Winning CDs

Global social media agency We Are Social has appointed creative team Graham Jenks and James Nester as the agency’s first creative directors in its London headquarters. 

 

Jenks and Nester join We Are Social from Ogilvy One, where they were creative directors for Kern and Beyond Dark chocolate. Their recent ‘Gnome Experiment’ campaign was cited as the world's most awarded direct campaign of the year in the 2012 Big Won report, where the pair were also named the UK’s top creative team and 4th in the world.

 

‘Gnome Experiment’ was the only UK campaign to win both Direct and Digital awards at the Cannes Lions in 2012, was the most successful DMA Grand Prix winner in history and has recently been nominated for a D&AD pencil. While at Ogilvy One, Jenks and Nester were instrumental in the agency’s social media and digital innovation pitch win for British Airways and the Land Rover account win.   

 

Jenks and Nester will be responsible for further strengthening the creative reputation of the agency, inspiring the agency’s multidisciplinary teams to develop social ideas that are executed to the highest standard.

 

Their appointments further bolster the agency’s growing creative department, which includes two additional recent hires.  Editorial director Charlie Cottrell joined We Are Social in March from digital agency Zone, where she was group editor, managing editorial strategy and delivery for clients including, Nike Foundation, Coca-Cola and Channel 4. She will be responsible for driving editorial strategy and quality of output across all social content produced for the agency’s clients.

 

Creative lead Gareth Leeding has also joined We Are Social from Blast Radius, where his work on the Victoria Beckham Range Rover Evoque digital launch campaign won multiple awards including a Webby Honouree, multiple Lovies and two FWAs. He will focus on a number of the agency’s key clients, including adidas and Red Bull.

 

Jim Coleman, managing partner, We Are Social, said: “James and Graham are by far the most impressive and genuinely innovative creative directors in the UK. They also truly ‘get’ social - their work over the last few years, in particular the Gnome Experiment, has been unlike anything the industry has seen before. We’re looking forward to applying their creative skills across We Are Social’s client base.

 

“Appointing creative directors of James and Graham’s calibre marks a real turning point in We Are Social’s development. While we’re already delivering strategic social campaigns on a global scale, we’re now evolving into a creative agency that can compete with the best in the world.” 

 

Jenks and Nester commented: “The chance to creatively lead the world’s most respected social specialist is extremely exciting. Working with the experts here, we have an opportunity to use social thinking and innovation to drive the future of advertising.”