CommBank ECD Erik Vervroegen set to depart Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco
CB can reveal that Erik Vervroegen will be departing from Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco – where he is president/ECD on the Commonwealth Bank of Australia account – in three to four week’s time.
Goodby’s Barbara Lippert, the former editor of AdWeek, now the agency’s ‘Curator of Popular Culture’, told CB this morning: “Erik will actually be in Australia working on CommBank for some of that time. We all loved him and will miss him!” She added that there is no replacement as of yet.
His departure – which will come just two years after he was handed the role – may just open the door to the account finally coming back to Australia, where most Aussie industry observers believe it belongs.
Local agencies had high hopes the Commonwealth Bank account would return to Australian shores, especially after chief marketing officer Mark Buckman left the bank in December to join Telstra as chief marketing officer, eventually replaced by Dell’s Andrew Lark (left) in June this year.
Buckman, who joined the bank six years ago, controversially appointed Goodby Silverstein & Partners San Francisco to its mainstream brand account in April 2007.
The highly awarded and controversial Vervroegen joined Goodby’s two years ago from TBWA\Paris, where he led the agency to win around 70 Cannes Lions, including several Grand Prix and TBWA\Paris was Cannes Agency ofthe Year three times in a row.
Originally from Begium, he made his creative rep working under current Y&R worldwide CD Tony Granger, first at TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, Johannesburg and later atBozell in New York.
12 Comments
for the most awarded creative in the world, he’s done stuff all for the CBA brand
Vervrogen is a legend and an exceptional human being. He didn’t leave Goodby lightly I can assure you but what he has next was too good to pass up. And no, he’s not coming to Oz.
The comm Bank have had many Board level restructures going on on the inside over the past 6 or so months.
It would be great if Comm Bank came back to our shores but lets just hope those involved in the pitch do the work that should be done for the account rather than doing work that just wins the business. I suspect the later will happen. Big Aussie agencies can’t help but throw everything out the window when they see dollar signs.
Grow some balls Australia. Lets see some integrity.
The Comm Bank work is the best work on air and has been for some time.
Clear message, great casting and beautifully executed.
Word is Telstra is off to Goodbutt & Silvercrack.
11.40. It wouldn’t suprise me. The work they had done on Comcast was amazing.
But I’ve heard reports to the contrary. I’ve heard that they’re really happy with DDB primarily.
Plus I’m not sure whether it would be a conflict of interest with Comcast. I’m thinking it would be.
so where is he going?
@9:49 am
“lets just hope those involved in the pitch do the work that should be done for the account rather than doing work that just wins the business.”
Oh for fuck’s sake. It’s not the Archibald Prize we’re talking about here mate.
@5.49 pm.
You’re the exact type I’m talking about. Take the money and run. No wonder ad engagement scores are down 19% in this country. You can’t be arsed even trying to write something good that has anybody interested. And thanks for pulling out the Archibald reference, just goes to show how out of touch you are with the common man. How is the Chardonnay in Mosman this evening?
@5:57
5:49 here again.
You speak feverishly of taking the money and running – what is it you do every payday? Do you say to your paymasters “Oh, I can’t accept my full salary this month – I spent most of my time churning out pap for our clients. Please take back 50% – I insist. Next month, when I have created 30 days worth of work with integrity, I will accept my maximum sum.”
No, you don’t. So get the fuck off your high horse and have a good think about what you do for a living.
Sure, it’s nice to dream of a utopia where everybody is all for the creation of their ideal ads, but it’s just that – a dream. And when you compromise this dream when a few tens of thousands of dollars are at stake for you, well, I guess you can see why agencies/clients do the same thing.
No?
I guess Erik would go back to Paris, where he built his reputation. A few month ago, the then ECD at Saatchi & Saatchi Paris just left to join another agency…
Things are changing in ad industry and europe is the place to be.
Things are changing in ad industry and europe is the place to be.