Y&R New York announced today that it has hired three senior creative and digital experts: executive creative director, Ryan Blum (above, left); digital experience director, Eric Ackley (above, centre) and director of interactive and activation, Catherine Patterson (above, right).
Leslie Sims, CCO of Y&R New York says: “These hires will help us to be led more by creative and digital, to move into areas like user experience and experiential.” Blum will be leading the Navy Partnership and helping to launch Y&R’s Memphis office. He joins Y&R from Publicis Seattle, where he was a creative director on T-Mobile.
Patterson was most recently at McCann NY, where she created the agency’s interactive and experiential unit and grew it into a multimillion dollar business. She worked with Sims at McCann and led the Nature Valley Trail View project, which won multiple gold Cannes Lions and the Jay Chiat Award for Strategic Excellence.
Ackley joins from sister agency Geometry Global, where he was an experience designer, developer and creative technologist. He’s worked on projects such as the Great Ritz Holiday Parade, a digital parade for Ritz Crackers; and with brands such as American Express, Nikon, Volvo and Charles Schwab.
