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Colenso gives Levi Slavin the 21-gun salute

Colenso BBDO has confirmed that creative director Levi Slavin will be leaving the agency to join New York-based Anomaly, with his last day falling on 28 February.

Nick Garrett, Colenso’s managing director, says Slavin’s departure was “amicable” and he spoke highly of the relationship they shared at Colenso. 

“Levi joined [the agency] a few months before me, and I’ve been very lucky to work with a creative like him … he’s a great talent, and he’s one of the most passionate and curious creatives I’ve come across. He’s focused on the work, and it shows in the campaigns he’s led,” says Garrett.

Slavin’s decision to leave Colenso brings to an end his second stint at the agency, with the first running for two years between 2005 and 2007. And Garrett adds that if Slavin ever wanted to join the agency for a third time, that everyone would “welcome him back.”

In addition to twice working at Colenso, Slavin also shared his talents at Saatchi & Saatchi in London from 2007 to 2010 and at Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne from 2004 to 2005.

Slavin sits next to Dave Govier in a picture from 2006. (Image credit: Campaign Brief) 

Before 2004, during his early days in the industry, he first worked at 303Lowe and then at Marketforce, both in Australia, his place of birth.

This move marks the first time that Slavin will be plying his creative trade in the United States, but, given that he has already worked in three countries, he shouldn’t find it too difficult to adapt to the new landscape.

“I think this is fantastic for him,” says Garrett. “Anomaly is a prestigious agency and I have no doubt he’ll do well … We are giving him the 21 guns … [and]he goes with our blessing. We all wish him well.”

Anomaly recently placed fifth on Ad Age’s 2014 A-List, and in 2013 the agency was responsible for the third most shared Super Bowl ad of all time, the tear-jerking Clydsdales Budweiser ad.  

Given that Slavin joins the agency off the back of a well-awarded year for Colenso, he’s no stranger to what it takes to produce noteworthy work and he certainly understands the pressure that comes with high client expectations.

Over the last two years, in particular, Slavin served as the creative muscle behind several of Colenso’s most popular campaigns, including the range of likeable ads across the DB range.

Despite the loss of this creative juggernaut, Garrett says that Colenso is not seeking a replacement for him.

“We are going to work with the wealth of creative talent we have simmering under the creative directors, and look to develop our team from within,” he says.

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