Booms & Shakes: May's moves, makeovers, moments and more

Welcome to Booms & Shakes, our regular monthly round-up of the hires, promotions, partnerships and stories making waves across the creative world. And right now, there's a lot to keep up with.

Brand consultancies are restructuring at pace. McDonald's has a new CMO and a new voice. And a new social studio has launched with arguably the best founding philosophy we've seen all year; inspired by a Brian Wilson warning about lollipops.

Read on to find out who's been busy, who's making noise, and who's worth keeping an eye on.

Story of the month

The Belfast studio that built a $4bn brand

If you need proof that great work can get you a long way, check out what Belfast creative studio Pale Blue Dot have been up to lately. Not content with sizeable clients such as Emirates Airlines, OakNorth Bank and Guy Ritchie's Cashmere Caveman Co, the 18-strong team has just named and built the brand identity for Tomoro.ai.

Never heard of Tomoro? Us neither to be fair, but this Edinburgh-based applied AI consulting firm has just been acquired by OpenAI as the founding acquisition of its new $4bn Deployment Company. Not too shabby.

Pale Blue Dot has led Tomoro.ai's work from day one: naming, brand identity, positioning, messaging, video production and website. The name was central to the brief. "Everyone's future begins with tomorrow," said Jaime Steele, co-founder of Pale Blue Dot. "We all want a better one, and AI is part of how we get there. We needed something simple to say, easy to remember and distinctive enough for the team to own. Tomoro did all three."

Hires and promotions

McDonald's gets a new CMO, and a new voice

McDonald's UK & Ireland made two big announcements in quick succession this month. Tim Kenward's been appointed chief marketing officer, bringing more than 15 years of McDonald's system experience to the role. As senior marketing director for the International Operated Markets business unit, he oversaw the reinvention of value strategy in key markets and, most recently, the World Menu Heist: McDonald's first truly multi-market campaign, which began as a UK & Ireland initiative.

Meanwhile, and perhaps more visibly, actor Stephen Graham has become the new voice of the brand, taking over from Dexter Fletcher, whose voice has been a defining part of McDonald's advertising for years. Stephen's first four voiceovers, for McCrispy, Big Arch and Breakfast Done Properly, went live at the end of April. Seems like smart casting: the Adolescence actor brings a killer combo of cultural credibility, everyday warmth and cross-generational appeal.

WPP Brand & Design gets a new structure

If you needed proof that branding is back in the heart of business strategy, the reorganisation of WPP Brand & Design makes it abundantly clear. Global CEO Jane Geraghty has announced a new leadership structure that connects specialist capabilities across the group's portfolio (which spans—deep breath—Landor, Design Bridge and Partners, amp, ManvsMachine, Coley Porter Bell, BDG, CBA Design and DeepLocal) and includes two newly created global roles.

Emma Beckmann, who's spent more than two decades at Landor, steps up as global chief growth officer. And Ann Higgins, formerly EMEA chief executive of Ogilvy Consulting, joins as global chief client officer across WPP Brand & Design and Design Bridge and Partners. Both report to Jane.

It seems likely to me that the agencies that can actually connect strategy, design and experience—not to mention measure it effectively—are the ones that will define this next chapter of creativity. And by the looks of it, WPP is betting heavily on that too.

Landor appoints Emma Ellis as MD London

Landor has appointed Emma Ellis as managing director of its London studio, one of the agency's most important global hubs. She joins from Interbrand, where she was president and managing partner for London for nearly 13 years. She'll report to Amal Atallah, President EMEA, WPP Brand & Design.

Ellis's remit covers overall studio performance, global and regional client relationships, and championing the adoption of technology and AI across the business. A major move, at what feels like a turning point for the category.

D&AD appoints Danilo Boer to its Board

D&AD has appointed Danilo Boer, global creative lead and partner at McCann, to its Board of Trustees. He's pretty familiar with the organisation, having accumulated a whopping 168 D&AD Awards over his career, including a Black Pencil for Spotify, two Emmys for Michelob ULTRA and an Academy Award of Merit for his contribution to captioning.

This year, Danilo will also serve as jury president for Direct at D&AD, so he'll be on both sides of the Pencil simultaneously. He joins a growing roster of recent trustee appointments under new CEO David Patton.

Pumpkin appoints Lucy Aitken

Following last month's appointment of Joe Stubbs as chief strategy and transformation officer, B2B PR agency Pumpkin has made another big hire, bringing Lucy Aitken in as content director. A former head of content for LIONS Intelligence at Cannes Lions, Lucy has two decades of senior editorial experience spanning LIONS, WARC, Contagious and Campaign.

As AI reshapes how content is made and consumed, Pumpkin is betting that high-quality editorial expertise matters more, not less. Something we at Creative Boom would obviously endorse.

Signifly appoints Jonathan Goldmacher

Global design and technology studio Signifly has appointed Jonathan Goldmacher as managing director of its London studio, as the agency accelerates its push into the UK and US markets. And his CV is certainly an impressive one.

Jonathan founded and led Valtech's Agency Service Line (a 400-person business spanning three continents). Before that, he served as MD at MullenLowe New York, where the office was named Creative Media Agency of the Year and US Media Agency of the Year. And before that was MD at R/GA, during the period it was named Cannes Lions Agency of the Year.

BBH Studios promotes Sophie FitzGerald

BBH Studios has promoted Sophie FitzGerald to head of Black Sheep Studios, its award-winning live action and photography production arm. FitzGerald has been executive producer at Black Sheep since 2022, bringing in world-class independent directors and photographers and helping build the studio into a destination for unsigned talent. Recent executive-produced work includes 'Not Made By Gordon' for Burger King. Before BBH, she spent seven years at We Are Social's production studio and held senior roles at Sky and Mother London's The Or. A richly deserved step up.

We Are Social appoints Amy Conner as head of studios

Socially-led creative agency We Are Social has appointed Amy Conner as head of studios in the UK, overseeing the production arm and working with clients including Carlsberg, Chase and Lucozade. Conner joins from JustSo, where she produced Disney's original branded,-content documentary series for YouTube, and previously led commercial production at Vice, working with Coca-Cola, Amex, adidas and Logitech. She reports to managing director Lucy Doubleday.

Thinkingbox appoints Cam Boyd as ECD

Thinkingbox has appointed Cam Boyd as executive creative director, following a six-month global search. Boyd joins from Monks and brings experience from GUT Toronto, john st., McCann Canada, TAXI, Leo Burnett Toronto and his own venture, Saint Bernard, with work recognised at virtually every major awards show globally.

IMA promotes Emily Crabtree to global MD

Leeds-based global marketing agency IMA, part of the Smollan Group, has promoted Emily Crabtree from director of growth to global marketing director; a newly created position that will see her align marketing strategy across IMA's global offices and support the agency's expansion. Crabtree has been with IMA for seven years. Her observation that "agencies are often not great at their own marketing" is a refreshingly honest perspective that's hard to disagree with.

More movers

Grey London has appointed Alex Moser-Berridge as head of growth, as the agency pursues what it's calling its 'Greynaissance'. She joins from The Or, where she played a leading role in winning the ASOS creative account.

Miami agency Republica Havas, which is approaching its 20th anniversary, has named Federico Hauri as executive creative director. He joins from MULTI, the studio he co-founded. Ogilvy Paris has promoted its ECD Benjamin Bregeault to chief creative officer, in a bid to put technology-fluent creative leadership at the centre of the agency. And Stereo Creative has appointed Casey Savio Samuels—formerly SVP strategy at Monks—as head of strategy, North America. It's a newly created role as the agency grows its US presence.

Launches and new ventures

Knock Three Times is open for business

When we first mentioned Knock Three Times back in February, it was a well-funded idea in a pre-launch phase. Now it's real. Kat Thomas, founder of One Green Bean, Cannes Lions Titanium Lion winner and author of Weapons of Mass Confidence, has officially opened the doors, with Flight Centre and Butternut Box as founding clients. A co-founder and CEO joins on 1 June.

Knock Three Times has built three proprietary tools (Audit, Architect and Readiness) to help clients improve how they appear across LLMs, within a framework it calls Surface Worthy.

Lukewarm launches with a warning from Brian Wilson

We have a soft spot for a studio launch with a genuine point of view, and Lukewarm definitely has one. Founded by Ian Gambier—former ECD at Fabric Social, co-founder and ECD of Boomerang London, and former EMEA creative director at Meta Reality Labs for Meta Quest—the new social-first studio takes its name from a Brian Wilson quote: "Beware the lollipop of mediocrity. Lick it once and you'll suck forever."

So what's that all about, then? The argument goes that 90% of brands on social treat TikTok and Reels like a corporate newsletter, then wonder why they're stuck in "1k view jail with tumbleweed in the comments." The solution? A team of "social misfits" who can mobilise to create best-in-class content in 24 hours. It launched on 5 May with a tech startup as its founding client.

Lemonade Repa rebrands

Production talent collective Lemonade Reps has rebranded as Lemonade Collective and launched Lemonade Labs, a new branded entertainment studio developing entertainment-first ideas for TV, streamers and social platforms, funded by brands.

The new structure brings together Lemonade Talent (production companies across live action, animation, post, AI and immersive), Lemonade Presents (a cultural events programme for the creative community) and Lemonade Labs. The logic: brands are moving beyond campaigns and into entertainment, and production companies are increasingly expected to collaborate across advertising, culture and long-form storytelling. Lemonade Collective is building the infrastructure to meet that shift.

M+C Saatchi Talent Group launches a content incubator

M+C Saatchi Talent Group has launched M+C Saatchi Studios, a podcast and content incubator focused on developing original IP with its talent roster from the ground up. Led by Emily Rees Jones as director and head of studios, the studio will work with talent to develop, test and refine formats with long-term potential, initially via podcasts, with ambitions to extend into TV, live experiences and commercial opportunities.

Mergers and acquisitions

INVNT and Nth Degree merge

One of the biggest structural moves in the experiential world this month: global brand storytelling agency INVNT is joining Nth Degree, backed by Shamrock Capital. The combined platform spans 11 offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Nth Degree Events will fold into INVNT and operate under that brand name, with INVNT co-founder Kristina McCoobery stepping into a leadership role alongside the existing Nth Degree team.

The logic is that corporate clients don't want to stitch together separate agencies for creative, strategy, production and operations.

Sid Lee integrates Godfrey Dadich Partners

Sid Lee Group has integrated Godfrey Dadich Partners, with Derek Robson appointed as chairman. The move reflects a broader shift in how creative work is being structured: campaigns, content, platforms and environments are increasingly expected to work as one, but most organisations remain split across disciplines. Sid Lee's integration is less about adding capabilities and more about reorganising how creative, design and technology actually collaborate in practice.

Brands at Work Group acquires Chorus

Brands at Work Group—known for its work with Deloitte, Novartis and AB InBev—has acquired boutique creative agency Chorus, which has built its reputation on emotion-led consumer campaigns for Johnnie Walker, Montblanc and The Macallan. Chorus will retain its name, independence and what the press release delightfully describes as its "boutique bite." Founder Cassidy Knowles stays on as MD.

Partnerships and wins

Splendid Communications lands Cadbury Ice Cream

Splendid Communications has been appointed as Cadbury Ice Cream's social media content agency on a retained basis. The remit covers day-to-day social strategy and always-on content across Instagram and TikTok, with a brief to keep the brand culturally relevant year-round; not just at seasonal peaks.

Leopard Co wins SONAS Bathrooms

Birmingham-based integrated agency Leopard Co has welcomed Ireland's leading bathroom manufacturer SONAS Bathrooms to its client portfolio on a retained basis. They'll support the brand's UK expansion, including the opening of a 60,000 sq ft distribution centre in Redditch, West Midlands later this year.

Milestones, anniversaries and good news stories

Onward turns one

Onward, the impact agency founded by Anna Öhrling, Callum Towler and Phil Bassot (former leaders from Revolt, Accenture Song and Motel) has just celebrated its first birthday having won six pitches from six. Recent work includes The Unhumble Project for Galaxy — a self-promotion training platform designed to help women speak more confidently about their achievements.

Piqniq achieves B Corp certification

Founded in 2024 by Katy Sharpe, Bee Pearson and Mitchell Cocker, Piqniq is an independent media agency that's majority female-owned. Clients include Seiko, the England and Wales Cricket Board, the FA and The Big Issue. We congratulate the 13-strong team for recently achieving B Corp certification, with a score of 91.8.

Freelancer Magazine appoints a new editor

A pleasing piece of publishing news: Freelancer Magazine, the independent quarterly for UK freelancers founded five years ago by Sophie Cross, has appointed Joanna Cummings as editor. Cummings founded The Grub Street Journal, an independent magazine about the magazine industry, and brings a career spanning chemistry, cannabis science, crafts and kids' content.

One for the diary

Quick reminder: the 73rd Cannes Lions runs 22 to 26 June. The Luxury Lions jury president this year is Pum Lefebure, co-founder and chief creative officer of Design Army, recognised for bold, culturally resonant work across luxury, fashion and lifestyle. Joining her on the jury are Hector Muelas, chief brand and creative officer at Tiffany & Co., Matteo Sgarbossa, CEO of Balmain, and Sandra Bold, chief creative officer at VML EMEA, among others.

Key takeaways

Step back from May's Booms & Shakes and a few things stand out.

First, brand is having its moment. The WPP Brand & Design restructure, Landor's appointment of Emma Ellis, the continued drumbeat from Knock Three Times, the consolidation in experiential: all of it points in the same direction. After years of short-term performance obsession, businesses are remembering what brand is actually for. The consultancies that have been making this argument for years are now getting the briefs to prove it.

Second, live events and experiential are consolidating fast. INVNT and Nth Degree, Brands at Work and Chorus, Sid Lee and Godfrey Dadich Partners: three significant structural moves in one month. Private equity has been watching the upward post-pandemic curve closely, and the sector is now being organised at scale. Expect more.

Finally, perhaps the most satisfying thing in this month's inbox was the the Pale Blue Dot story. A small Belfast studio. A name that needed to be simple, memorable and ownable. A URL they managed to secure. Proof, if any more were needed, that the right name and the right brand can travel a very long way. Sometimes the brief just goes and goes.