Güle güle, Chicago.
Ad Age is reporting that Omnicom-owned We Are Unlimited is no longer the creative spawning ground for CCO Toygar Bazarkaya.
After spending two years and change at DDB’s bespoke agency for McDonald’s, the Swabia-born creative will be heading west to 10-year-old brand experience agency Optimist, where he will lead a team of 160 people and all creative output across all of the agency’s seven hubs, including New York, London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin and Prague.
Bazarkaya has overseen business on Mercedes-Benz, Visa, Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s, Dos Equis, Wrigley, Campbell Soup, HP and Major League Baseball; and collected 30 Cannes Lions across 12 categories. That’s a lot of lions
Ad Age’s story says Optimist’s goal is build upon recent big wins such as being named the global creative agency of record for Volkswagen-owned Škoda and the brand-experience partner for Uber Eats.
Bazarkaya was reportedly attracted to the agency’s focus on developing brand experiences. “What’s one meal you still remember from last year? Or the one movie you remember for decades now?,” he asks. “I’m sure you think of both as an experience, not just a meal or a movie. Experiences make us feel something and they stay with us. Experiences can be anything, and Optimist is one of the best at creating them for brands.”
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The agency was founded in 2009 by Juergen Dold, Rose Odeh, Nils Arend and Tino Schaedler and worked with clients such as Target, Nike, Google and Beats by Dre. One of the feathers in the agency’s cap is, “007 Elements,” the James Bond cinematic installation built last year in collaboration with creative director Neal Callow. The immersive installation sits 9,800 feet above sea level at the peak of Gaislachkogl Mountain in Austria.
Bazarkaya was DDB North America Chief Creative Officer Ari Weiss’ first creative hire at the time, having arrived from Havas Worldwide, where he held the same title for the Americas. “Over two years and thousands of pieces of content, Toygar has been instrumental in shaping the McDonald’s brand story and We Are Unlimited as an agency,” a DDB spokeswoman said in a statement. “We appreciate all he’s done to create business impact and award-winning work on this iconic brand and wish him the best in his future.”
While at Unlimited, Bazarkaya spearheaded some memorable McDonald’s campaigns, including the grandma’s for McDonald’s Buttermilk chicken. Here is a look at one of them:
WAU Executive Creative Directors Derek Green and John Hansa will co-lead the shop’s creative direction, reporting directly to Weiss, according to the agency. There are no plans to name a replacement at this time.
Is this the equivalent of the Los Angeles Clippers landing Toronto Raptors Kawhi Leonard? Mmm, possibly. Reel 360 and Reel Chicago wish Toygar all the best.
Source: Ad Age
