Mumbai: Creative talent Tom Murphy will join Wunderman Thompson North America as chief creative officer, the agency has announced. He will report to CEO Audrey Melofchik. Wunderman Thompson’s global chief creative officer, Bas Korsten, has been acting as NA CCO for most of 2022.
Known for his track record of creative excellence that drove McCann’s most celebrated work of the past decade, including the iconic "Fearless Girl," Murphy has spent 16 years at McCann, most recently as North American CCO, and has influenced creative talent and effective work over the course of his career. His work has impacted brands including Verizon, Mastercard, Microsoft, Ulta Beauty, Lysol, Mucinex, MGM Resorts, NY Lottery, USPS, and HomeGoods.
"Wunderman Thompson has such a massive breadth of capabilities. When those capabilities meet creativity, they become superpowers," said Tom Murphy. "From my earliest conversations with Audrey and Bas, I sensed their ambition for the future of Wunderman Thompson North America. On our first call, I underlined two key words in my notebook: ambition and creativity. I could immediately tell we value the same things and will achieve great things together."
During Murphy’s tenure at McCann, he oversaw some of the most talked about and award-winning ideas of the past decade, ranging from "Fearless Girl" for State Street Global Advisors, the "True Name" campaign for Mastercard, "Universal Love" for MGM Resorts, "Generation Lockdown" for March for our Lives, and "Changing the Game" for Microsoft - which centred on the brand’s adaptive Xbox controller that makes gaming accessible to players with disabilities. He originally joined McCann as a group creative director in 2004, from DDB Chicago, where he worked on top brands like McDonald's, Budweiser, and Bud Light.
"Growth challenges facing clients today require an agency partner steeped in expertise across their entire ecosystem with creative firepower to ignite it in completely new ways," said Audrey Melofchik, who became CEO of Wunderman Thompson North America in 2021. "From the moment I met Tom, I knew he was the perfect partner to lead Wunderman Thompson NA as we blaze a trail of inspiring creativity and growth with our client partners. He is an amazing thinker, leader, and human being."
"Tom coming on board is a testament to our future-forward creative ambitions for clients that we have as Wunderman Thompson in North America, as well as globally. He has proven himself as a powerful and inspiring creative leader that can impact business and culture," said Wunderman Thompson global chief creative officer Bas Korsten. "I really can’t wait to see how Tom is going to inspire our ambitious clients and our people. He is the real deal."
Beyond Tom’s appointment, Wunderman Thompson has been building out its bench of talent with the additions of FCB’s business development leader, Wunderman Thompson North America chief growth officer Laura Cona; Wunderman Thompson New York BBDO ECD Susan Golkin; Swift (a Wunderman Thompson Company) chief creative officer, BBH LA creative lead Ned McNeilage and Inclusive Design global head Josh Loebner. Earlier this year, they acquired influencer agency, Village Marketing.
Wunderman Thompson North America is enjoying momentum with a series of new business wins, including Snap and Courvoisier, while expanding its portfolio of work for Pfizer, Samsung, and Walgreens. In June, Wunderman Thompson was awarded the first BtoB Grand Prix at Cannes for Sherwin-Williams Speaking in Color, a voice-activated AI color system.
