CB Exclusive: After four years in the role Colenso BBDO chief creative officer Levi Slavin departs

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CB Exclusive: After four years in the role Colenso BBDO chief creative officer Levi Slavin departs

Campaign Brief can reveal that Colenso BBDO chief creative officer Levi Slavin has departed the agency after four years in the role. When contacted by CB Slavin confirmed he has left but would not reveal his future plans.

 

When contacted by CB, Angela Watson, managing director, Colenso BBDO says Slavin has been a constant contributor to the success of both Colenso and Clemenger: “His creative genius has led to work that will always be massively loved and respected in and out of the industry. He leaves the agency this week with nothing but our love and best wishes for the future.”

Before joining Colenso in 2017, Aussie expat Slavin spent two years as a EVP, group creative director at BBDO New York. It was a homecoming, having left Colenso BBDO Auckland in February 2014 to take a global creative director role at Anomaly, New York. After a year he returned to the BBDO fold, taking a VP, group creative director role at BBDO New York in January, 2015.

At BBDO New York, Levi worked on Visa, the American Red Cross, Babies’R’Us, and General Electric–winning the historic brand its first two Gold Lions. The awards were for The Message, an 8 episode original sci-fi podcast that made it to #1 on the iTunes charts. The Message went on to be the year’s most awarded branded content campaign in the U.S.

At Anomaly, Levi worked on Google, Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan, and MyMusicRX–helping the organization launch Bedstock, an annual music festival where artists play from bed for sick kids stuck in theirs. The long running event has attracted multiple a-list artists.

Slavin joined Colenso in November, 2009 as deputy CD from Saatchi & Saatchi London, eventually elevated to CD six months later.

Perth-born Slavin, whose first gig was 303 followed by Marketforce Perth, worked at Colenso in 2006, and left a legacy of iconic work like Trumpet ‘Undies’ and the launch of Frank soft drink.

He then moved to Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland followed by two years at Saatchi & Saatchi London, working on campaigns for T-Mobile, Carlsberg, P&G andCadbury. At Saatchi’s he completed the first global campaign in Guinness’ history, working with director Antoine Bardou-Jacquet.

At Colenso, he was responsible for many award winning campaigns, including Doggelganger and Donation Glasses for Pedigree, and the highly awarded War On Wine campaign for DB Breweries. During Slavin’s time, Colenso consistently ranked in the top 5 in the Won Report’s global rankings, coming in at #5, #1 and #4 respectively – a record never before achieved by a New Zealand agency. In 2012, Slavin was named the world’s most awarded writer in the report.

Slavin has won over 100 international awards for dozens of brands, including 18 D&AD Pencils, 32 Cannes Lions, and the highly sought-after D&AD Black Pencil–the first for New Zealand. Slavin’s work has featured at TED; ranked #1 on both the iTunes music and iTunes podcast charts; and joined popular culture in the form of podcast, product innovation, tv series, music, literature, annual festivals, and film.

Since joining as CCO in 2017, Colenso BBDO was named Campaign Brief Agency of the Year in 2018.