The pair have a combined service of 13 years at the global brand communications group. Manifest said the promotions reflect the contribution they have made to the agency’s growth and its international reputation for creativity.
Kenny joined Manifest in 2013 as an account executive and has helped shape the agency’s creative ambition of “combining purpose with creative innovation”. She has led award-winning campaign teams for clients including BrewDog, Chivas Brothers and Hotels.com, and is being promoted from associate director. As a partner, Kenny will undertake special projects around group expansion and diversification, while continuing to lead on the agency’s global accounts.
Obubo was the fourth member of the Manifest team when he joined as an intern in 2012. Manifest said he has been “a driving force” behind the agency’s industry-leading diversity and inclusion programme, which saw Manifest become the first agency to achieve The Blueprint ‘kitemark’ earlier this year.
Obubo provides senior strategic counsel to global brands in his role as brand strategy director. As a partner, he will be given a broader remit to pioneer business practices in diversity, equality and inclusion, leading the agency’s group-wide activism in this area.
“Manifest’s growth over the past decade has been forged by a group of determined, creative and slightly mad human beings who have collectively created a global working culture like no other. None more so than Helen and Julian: two people I feel are more accurately described as co-founders than colleagues,” Manifest Group chief executive Alex Myers said.
“This promotion to partner in Manifest London recognises their contribution to how far Manifest has come and, more importantly, gives them the ownership they deserve in our future. I am excited to continue working with them and learning from them every day in their expanded leadership positions.”
Kenny said she was “incredibly proud to have helped shape [Manifest's] unique global culture and proposition over the past seven years”.
She added: “Every year has been more exciting than the last, as we’ve evolved from a plucky start-up to a globally recognised industry leader. A lot has changed over that time and we’ve had to grow up fast as we’ve expanded, but it’s been consistently exciting and rewarding to be part of. I’m thrilled to help lead the next exciting chapter.”
Obubo said he was humbled by the promotion: “Becoming partners is not only a vote of confidence in our abilities, but it exemplifies the trust Manifest places in each member of the team. In my eight years here, I have witnessed the creation of an unrivalled culture and the assembly of a brilliant squad of some of the best creative minds anywhere in the world.”
Manifest is PRWeek Global International Agency of the Year 2020, the second year in a row that is has won the accolade.
