DDB North America has hired chief strategy officer Tomas Gonsorcik from rival agency VMLY&R.
He replaces Eric Zuncic, who left in May to become global MD of Forsman & Bodenfors.
Gonsorcik joins DDB after an 11-year stint at WPP, where held senior strategy roles at VML in London and New York before leading the integration of VML, Y&R and Taxi’s strategic capabilities in the U.S., following the formation of VMLY&R in 2018.
He’s also been a key client leader for VMLY&R, havingled the global Coca-Cola Company relationship with WPP for the past year. Gonsorcik has worked across a range of major brands including New Balance, Google, Pernod Ricard, Colgate Palmolive, Dell, PwC, Ford, MasterCard, International Olympic Committee and Premier League.
Justin Thomas-Copeland, CEO and president of DDB North America, called him a “modern, progressive CSO.”
“In talking to Tomas, what I hear in spades is a progressive thinker – someone who is fully aware of the context the business now operates in, is very creatively focused with regards to how it can be purposeful and is engaged in creating real value for consumers,” he said in an interview with Campaign US. “He is a voice that we think is going to get bigger and bigger.”
Thomas-Copeland also sees Gonsorcik as someone who can weave DDB’s growing capabilities together for clients after his experience with navigating the complexities of agency integration. VML was a 400-person agency when Gonsorcik joined and is now a 13,000-strong integrated network.
Gonsorcik said: “Having had the experience from a large-scale operation, I hopefully can see what are the most powerful pieces in the toolbox.”
Gonsorcik will start on September 22, reporting into Thomas-Copeland. He will lead the strategy team across North America and connect to the global B2B and strategy practices.
The long-time strategist said he was ready “for the next chapter” to focus on “creativity’s power to show us a better future.”
“I want to dedicate my career to building brands that through creativity can build a better relationship between themselves, society and consumers. My role is to be a buffer between clients and the wider communities and societies to deliver messages and experiences that can provide a good value exchange,” he said.
Where other agencies “get spread quite thin” by constantly layering on new capabilities, he believes DDB’s approach to creativity is more “purposeful.”
Gonsorcik serves as co-chair on the 4A’s Strategy Committee and is a jury member of the Global Effie Awards. He will be co hosting the 4A’s annual Stratfest conference this month.
Prior to VMLY&R he was a digital strategist at TBWA\London.