Wonderhood Studios has promoted from within, making Nick Exford the agency’s first Head of Planning. Nick will oversee the planning department, reporting into chief strategy officer Jessica Lovell.
Nick was one of the first major hires at Wonderhood Studios when he was poached from Wieden + Kennedy London in September 2018.
Since then, Nick has been integral to the growth of the agency. He has helped win new business with Starling Bank, Mizkan, Motorway and his former client Three, an account which he now leads. He played a pivotal role in the launch of Three’s new brand platform ‘Life Needs a Big Network’ which ran across all touchpoints from TV to instore, digital, social and OOH, and was designed to help the brand come of age.
Other notable projects include Branston’s ‘Hit of Home’ campaign which generated a long-term ROI of £2.80, and Starling Bank’s ‘Helping Businesses Fly’ which led to a 30% increase in brand awareness as they became the UK’s fastest growing business bank. Exford also led the thinking on the recent ‘Football Moves People’ campaign for the Migration Museum.
Alongside promoting Nick to lead the department, Wonderhood Studios has hired planning director Joe Harris to work on Branston, Starling Bank and Three. Joe joins from Australia’s most effective agency, The Monkeys, where he led thinking across David Jones, NRMA Insurance, Tourism Western Australia and Telstra’s B2B portfolio. Prior to The Monkeys, Harris spent over five years at The Brooklyn Brothers - winning an array of Effies across both agency stints.
Jessica Lovell, chief strategy officer at Wonderhood Studios, said:“As we grow as a business we are lucky to welcome Joe to the team. We believe strongly in nurturing and growing talent within Wonderhood, and it is testament to this approach that we have yet to have anyone leave the Wonderhood team despite the turbulent times we have all experienced.
I am also delighted to promote Nick, to head of planning, Nick brings the perfect combination of rigour and creativity to everything he works on. He has grown with the business and played a key part in the success of Wonderhood so far.”