RAPP Signs Marty Cooke as U.S. Creative Head to Round Out Agency Arsenal

NEW YORK, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Global marketing agency RAPP has announced that Marty Cooke is joining as U.S. Chief Creative Officer to strengthen the creative and branding firepower of the agency.

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"Great creative thinking is the final piece of the puzzle in our strategy to compete for A.O.R. accounts," said Bob Horvath, Global CEO of RAPP. "Marty is all about applying bold creativity to bring brands to life."

A figure highly regarded in the creative and marketing worlds, Cooke was most recently Partner and Chief Creative Officer of SS+K. In his 10 years at SS+K, he led the agency's development of brand-defining experiences that included big urban games, interactive cinema games and live text projections. He helped turn the LIVESTRONG yellow wristband into a worldwide phenomenon and devised a ground-breaking brand campaign to launch Delta Air Lines out of bankruptcy.

"Creative agencies and digital agencies are all competing for the holy grail of managing clients' brands," said Cooke, explaining his enthusiasm for joining RAPP. "I like RAPP's odds in this race. Nobody knows more about the consumer than these guys. Their insights are going to be like giving creative people night vision to engage consumers. Having all that information is going to be like cheating!"

RAPP's most recent account wins include Humana, COTY fragrances and Viagra.

Prior to SS+K, Cooke was best known for creating Fruitopia, naming and helping to launch jetBlue and ground-breaking campaigns for brands like Reebok, British Airways and BellSouth. He also has the distinction of being the only person to serve as Creative Director of three Chiat/Day offices (New York, London and Toronto). Earlier in his career, Cooke was a Copywriter and Creative Director at M&C Saatchi, Doyle Dane Bernbach and Scali McCabe Sloves.

He will work closely with Global Chief Creative Officer Ian Haworth and the U.S. regional creative heads, Rachael Heapps, Nick Platt and Skip Dampier.

"We're thrilled to welcome such a creative talent to the agency," said Haworth. "For brands to succeed today, you have to reach people on a different emotional level, create deeper connections and richer, more immersive brand experiences, and the only way to do that is through creativity and constant innovation. Marty will add a fresh perspective that will complete RAPP's evolution into a new kind of lead agency for 21st century brands."

About RAPP

Named to Advertising Age's prestigious A-list in 2009, RAPP (www.rapp.com) is one of the largest marketing services networks in the world. The network is comprised of more than 50 offices in 30 countries delivering over 40 years' experience in customer acquisition, retention and optimization to its clients. RAPP is a unit of the Omnicom Group, Inc.

SOURCE RAPP