Grey, which the Cannes organization just named as its 2015 North American Agency of the Year, has signed a new executive creative director to lead its Volvo account in New York.
Matt O'Rourke joins the agency from Deutsch Los Angeles, where he served as evp/ecd and worked on campaigns for such clients as Taco Bell and Sprint. He left that job over the summer and relocated to New York before landing the new gig at Grey's flagship office, where he will report directly to chief creative officer Andreas Dahlqvist.
O'Rourke, who's been included on such lists as Adweek's 25 Best Advertising Voices on Twitter and Business Insider's 30 Most Creative People in Social Marketing, brings an extensive agency background to the job. He first piqued the interest of the agency trade press during his second stint at McCann New York, where he served as group creative director from 2005 to 2011 and worked on MasterCard, General Mills and the New York Stock Exchange. He later spent time with Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Colorado working on the agency's Kraft Mac and Cheese, Burger King and Jello accounts before joining Wieden + Kennedy as a creative director on Old Spice, Sony, Levi's, Powerade and Oreo.
O'Rourke's been credited in multiple Super Bowl ads and has earned a slew of awards including more than 25 Lions, along with Clio, Webby and One Show recognition.
Grey's latest creative hire follows an internal reorganization at its Manhattan headquarters. In May, the agency announced it would be splitting into five "portfolio groups" based on clients' industries and respective revenues. The move followed a consolidation on the part of Procter & Gamble, which awarded its Gillette business to Grey in 2013 before deciding to move the remainder of its shaving brands—Venus, Braun and The Art of Shaving—to the WPP side earlier this year after a stint with BBDO New York.
The agency's relationship with Volvo has seen its own share of change in recent months. While the North American organization retains its status as the automaker's go-to shop, Volvo recently decided to limit its relationship with Grey London, which formerly led the account worldwide. At the same time, Volvo strengthened its partnership with Grey in the Middle East and North Africa region in early 2015.
In spite of the changes, Grey has created a number of successful campaigns for Volvo in North America. Its most prominent effort to date may be "The Greatest Interception Ever," which encouraged followers to tweet about Volvo during competitors' Super Bowl ads, thereby ensuring mentions during the big game without the accompanying media spend.