NEWS: TBWA signs three as business grows

TBWA has boosted its planning department with the appointment of three

senior planners as the agency absorbs a clutch of account wins over the

last year.

Gavin Heron, Howard Roberts and Dale Solman join the six-strong planning

department under the leadership of the planning director, David Wright.

Heron, 33, joins from Hunt Lascaris TBWA in South Africa to work on the

Chivas Regal account and on new business. Wright said: ‘Gavin is one of

the best strategic thinkers around and has been involved with many of

the award-winning campaigns produced by Hunt Lascaris.’ While in South

Africa, Heron helped develop the strategy for Nelson Mandela’s African

National Congress Party during last year’s South African elections.

Roberts, 29, arrives from Publicis where he worked on Renault, Guinness

and Perrier. At TBWA he will work on Nissan, NBC Superchannel and

Gatorade. Wright said: ‘Howard is one of a rare breed of planners who

have a real feeling for developing car advertising.’

Solman, 31, who joined at the end of September from KHBB, will handle

InterCity East Coast, Evian and Wrangler. Wright commented: ‘Dale has a

great personality and is committed to producing great work. Her

particular strength lies in understanding and measuring consumer

response.’

Wright added that account planning had played a significant role in

TBWA’s new-business wins in the past 12 months. ‘These three hirings

demonstrate our commitment to ensuring that we strengthen our resource

further in this area.

‘TBWA is not only a great creative agency, it’s also a great planning

agency,’ Wright commented.

TBWA has won a series of new accounts this year including Jet Petrol’s

pounds 2 million business in February, Debenham’s television advertising

in April and C&J Clark International’s pounds 8 million business in

July.

This article was first published on Campaign