Levi Slavin, former Chief Creative Officer at Colenso BBDO, has joined Australian start-up Howatson+Company as its new COO.
Founder and CEO of the creative outfit, Chris Howatson says that Slavin is a brilliant creative second.
“He is renowned for his empathy, his commitment to developing his teams and building deep relationships with his clients. I’ve known Levi for many years – both of us having long tenures at Clemenger Group – and the opportunity to partner with him in building H+Co is a career highlight,” says Howatson.
Slavin’s creative reputation has been built over a 21-year career working in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has won over 100 international awards across dozens of brands; including 15 Grand Prix, 35 Cannes Lions, 20 D&AD Pencils, and New Zealand’s first Black Pencil at D&AD.
His work has featured at TED, ranked #1 on both the iTunes music and podcast charts, and become part of popular culture through song, product innovation, branded series, and film.
When Trump was elected, Slavin moved from New York to New Zealand to run Colenso BBDO’s creative team. In his first year, the agency was named the #1 Best and Bravest by Contagious, #6 most awarded in The Big Won Report, #10 in The Gunn Report, and Agency of the Year by Axis and Campaign Brief.
During his time at Colenso BBDO Slavin worked on campaigns for the likes of Spark,Pedigree and DB Export.
Slavin departed Colenso BBDO in August of this year. In recent months the agency has seen several high-profile departures including Group Executive Creative Director Dan Wright and Executive Business Director Ahmad Salim.
“I am beyond thrilled to finally have the opportunity to work with Chris. He is an absolute force of nature. Chris’ vision for the agency is extraordinary. It’s the only model I’ve come across that will keep up with culture, the needs of brands, and return some humanity to our industry. I can’t wait to return home to Australia and get started,” says Slavin.
His new role will commence officially in January 2022.
