Jonathan Burley (left), who quit as CHI&Partners ECD just last week, hasn’t taken long to find a new home – he’s off to RKCR/Y&R to head creative on the agency’s UK accounts while founder Mark Roalfe looks after global business including Colgate and Danone.
Y&R CEO Jon Sharpe says: “Jonathan Burley is smart, straight-talking and possesses a brilliant creative mind. He has an undeniable track record in new business, a ridiculously impressive collection of creative awards to his name and was the outstanding choice to lead our creative department and help us build the businesses of both new and existing clients with culturally relevant, exciting and innovative creative ideas.” Burley previously worked at Leo Burnett after starting his career at HHCL.
RKCR’s last ECD was Mick Mahoney who surfaced last year at another WPP agency Ogilvy. This latest move is, in part, another WPP transfer as CHI is part-owned by Sir Martin Sorrell’s giant. When RKCR was repitching for Lloyds Bank last year there was talk of CHI’s Johnny Hornby being parachuted in to the agency if the pitch was unsuccessful. It was – the business went to adam&eveDDB – but Hornby stayed put at CHI and its new WPP-backed network The&Partnership.
If Sorrell ever dusts off this notion Burley and Hornby could find themselves in cahoots again. Stranger things have happened, especially in the Byzantine world of WPP.
