TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles Adds Firepower to Planning Department

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles today announced the addition of Neil Saunders, Catherine Heath and Clyde McKendrick as group planning directors.

TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles' planning group combines traditional, current and future brand planning skills from multi-disciplinary resources across the agency. Led by Executive Planning Director Dan Goldstein and consisting of over 40 employees from various disciplines, which include digital strategy, cultural anthropology, intelligence, business analytics, data specialists and brand planners.  

Grounded in TBWA's Media Arts and Disruption practices, LA's planning group works across all of the agency's clients. "Planning at TBWA\Chiat\Day has always strived to set the agenda of the discipline in the US, and today we are pushing its role and definition once again. We believe that a powerful brand idea must go beyond communications and govern all the ways in which a brand behaves," said Carisa Bianchi, president of TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles.

The planning group is further strengthened through the new senior hires of Neil Saunders, Catherine Heath and Clyde McKendrick, who are joining the agency as group planning directors. Saunders will have primary responsibility for Nissan; Heath will work primarily on Visa, and McKendrick will work on Pepsi. They join fellow group planning directors Scott MacMaster, Julie Smith and Oke Mueller.

"Planning as a discipline is seeing a fundamental change, and at TBWA\Chiat\Day, we're reacting to that change by continuing to invest in world-class talent to ensure our clients have the highest caliber strategic thinking for the modern marketing landscape," said Goldstein.

Neil Saunders has held executive management positions at leading creative agencies in London (Grey), Los Angeles (BBDO), San Francisco (Citron Haligman Bedecarre) and Chicago (Leo Burnett), having trained as an ad hoc research manager at Unilever. His experience includes leading and managing planning teams on Glaxo Smith Kline, P&G Health and Beauty Care, Kellogg's, Apple, Sony, Pioneer Electronics, Canon Cameras, The U.S. Army, Wachovia Bank, Dreyfus Financial Services, Lee Apparel Europe, Virgin, Blue Cross of California, Dreyer's/Edy's Premium Ice Cream, Taunton Cider Co., Becks Beer, The Good Guys, Macy's West and Odwalla.

Catherine Heath joins as global group planning Director from Modernista! where she was chief strategy officer. Prior to Modernista!, Catherine held the post of VP planning director at McCann Worldgroup/ T.A.G. where she led global strategy across Microsoft's Windows Mobile portfolio. Heath began her career with M&C Saatchi and then founded her own brand consultancy ,'Once Upon a Time Brands' in her native Australia, working with brands such as Red Bull, SKYY Vodka, Virgin and Cadbury Schweppes.

Clyde McKendrick, a strategy director with 14 years experience, most recently founded MILK (More Informed Lifestyle Knowledge), a London-based strategic consulting company that provided up to date NPD, insight publishing, brand and communications strategy and innovations thinking to progressive youth and young adult brands. Leading a small team headed of strategists, insight analysts and trend-hunters, MILK provided services to key clients including Red Bull, VW, Pernod Ricard, Nestle, Coca-Cola, O2 and Bacardi. Prior to founding MILK, McKendrick worked in-house as planning director for The Marketing Store Worldwide working on clients including Colgate, McDonald's and InBev. He began his career with a design agency called The Edge and grew his account service experience at various agencies, including Talisman and BDW, before becoming a consultant for Blockbuster Entertainment.

TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles is part of TBWA Worldwide (www.tbwa.com) creates Disruptive ideas expressed through Media Arts for global clients, including adidas, Apple, Beiersdorf, Energizer, GSK, Henkel, Infiniti, Mars, McDonald's, Michelin, Nissan, Pernod Ricard, Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore Airlines, Sony PlayStation and Visa. TBWA is ranked as a the Top-Ten worldwide advertising agency, and was recognized by Advertising Age in 2010 as the "Best International Network of the Decade." Fast Company Magazine placed TBWA 24th on its 2009 list of "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies" and as an Innovation All-Star in 2010. TBWA has 267 offices in 77 countries, and approximately 12,000 employees worldwide.

TBWA is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.

SOURCE TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles