Former DDB London ECD Jeremy Craigen snares global chief creative officer role at Innocean

CB Asia Exclusive – Former high-flying DDB London executive CD Jeremy Craigen, who departed that role in March after 25 years, has been appointed as the new global chief creative officer of Innocean Worldwide, based in London.

Craigen, whose distinguished career has seen him win many awards at Cannes and other leading shows, was the Global ECD for Volkswagen at DDB.

Craigen started his career at Ted Bates in 1984 and joined BMP DDB Needham in 1990. He was appointed Executive Creative Director of DDB London in 2003. During his tenure the agency was twice named The Most awarded agency in the World Accolade by the Gunn report.

Says global CEO of Innocean Worldwide Kun Hee Ahn: “We have been working towards Innocean being a leading Creative agency on a global scale. Now we have Jeremy as a Global CCO who can deliver on that vision and help steer us towards achieving our ambition. Bob Isherwood joined Innocean in 2013 as a Creative Advisor and we are delighted to have two of the very best Worldwide Creative thinkers in the world to help us achieve this objective.”

Adds Craigen: “My remit is simple. Make the work better, grow the business. What I love about Innocean is their honesty about themselves and their ambition for the future. It is a great company, headed by great people. And this is exactly the opportunity I have been waiting for. I can’t wait to get started.”

Says Aussie expat Bob Isherwood, Creative Advisor to Innocean Worldwide, who was involved in the appointment: “I’m very excited about working with Jeremy. It’s something we’ve tried to engineer in the past, but the opportunity wasn’t right for him back then. Now our stars are aligned, along with our collective experience.”

Craigen has served on virtually all major juries and has been Jury Chair of LIA, Clio, Young Guns and British TV Awards – in 2013 he was awarded The Chairman’s Award at British TV Awards for his outstanding contribution to film advertising.