Venables Bell & Partners Lands Creative Powerhouse Will McGinness

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, independent San Francisco ad agency Venables Bell & Partners announced it has hired Will McGinness as creative director. McGinness will partner with Paul Venables, founder and creative director, to continue the agency’s path of creative excellence.

“Will is a rare combination of brilliance and humility, and I’m truly excited at the prospect of what will happen when we add this talent to the special place that is VB&P”

“Will McGinness and VB&P. If that’s not an absolutely unstoppable combination, I don’t know what is,” said Venables. “Will’s pure talent and unparalleled experience unleashed through our culture and backed by our momentum – I think we all feel this is a game changer.”

McGinness comes to VB&P after seven years at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, where he was creative director, associate partner, working across all media as an interdisciplinary creative. There, he oversaw award-winning campaigns for Got Milk?, Saturn, Doritos, H-P, Rolling Rock, Hyundai, Comcast, Quaker and Yahoo!, and is credited with the agency’s rapid reinvention from a traditional model to a more integrated one. In 2009, under McGinness’ leadership, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners earned the title of Interactive Agency of the Year at the Cannes Festival for its work for clients like Sprint, Doritos and Nintendo. Prior to Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, McGinness worked at Arnold Worldwide on the highly awarded Volkswagen account.

“VB&P has proven itself to be a major creative force in the industry, and I’m fired up to work as Paul’s partner to help further that growth in new media and innovation,” said McGinness. “Invention has always resided at the heart of great creative ideas and we’re excited to continue to foster this spirit at VB&P through all media channels. I’m honored to be a part of the agency, which, like Goodby, shares a similar hunger for innovation, creativity and an undeniable entrepreneurial spirit. I haven’t even moved in yet and it already feels like home.”

This move is designed to strengthen VB&P’s current integrated capabilities that have produced award-winning interactive campaigns like Napster’s 2003 relaunch, which won two gold Cyber Cannes Lions and a gold Effie; Nestea’s “Liquid Awesomeness”; HBO’s “ComedyFetish.com”; Intel’s “Sponsors of Tomorrow”; and Slim Jim’s “Spicy Side”; in addition to its award-winning work for brands like Audi of America, the Meth Project and Barclays.

“Will is a rare combination of brilliance and humility, and I’m truly excited at the prospect of what will happen when we add this talent to the special place that is VB&P,” said Lucy Farey-Jones, partner and director of brand strategy. “I’m personally excited to be able to build new ideas together, unconstrained by any preconceived notions of the form ideas should take.”

Respected internationally as one of the best creative talents in the industry, McGinness has spoken at FITC, Cannes, The London Click Conference, the Cannes of Canada, the OFFF, and New Brand Communications Brazil. He’s also a frequent juror on shows such as The One Show, CLIO Awards, Singapore Creative Circle Awards, Art Directors Club, MSN, and London International Award Show. In 2008 he served as Chairman of the Interactive One Show and was named one of the top 50 in Creativity magazine. In 2010 he served as executive chairman of the interactive CLIO jury.

This news comes as VB&P recently announced the addition of Clearwire’s CLEAR brand, marking 40% revenue growth since 2008 and a banner new business year thus far in 2010. In addition to CLEAR, VB&P added Phillips 66 to its current ConocoPhillips responsibilities and expanded its work on the ConAgra portfolio with a significant assignment for Chef Boyardee.

About VB&P

Founded in 2001, Venables Bell & Partners is an independent San Francisco advertising agency. Named by Advertising Age as one of the top ten “A-List” agencies in the country, VB&P is privileged to work with Audi of America, ConocoPhillips, Barclays, the Meth Project, PG&E and VIZIO, among others. To learn more, visit www.venablesbell.com.

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