SapientNitro executive director and co-chief creative officer Chris Clarke is to leave the agency to launch a venture capital group.
The Aussie ad man, who sold Nitro to Sapient in June 2009, had been partnering with co-chief creative officer Gaston Legorburu in the US to integrate the company's above-the-line creative with Sapient's digital offering. Clarke has also served as a strategic advisor on key accounts.
Clarke will not fully step away from the business and will remain as a
strategic consultant. He also will continue to hold positions on the
boards of the Millennium Promise and Malaria No More, two charities in
which SapientNitro is active.
Clarke’s venture
capital group has two pending brand launches in 2011.
"While I will
greatly miss being part of a company with such innovative thinkers and
market momentum, I simply could not turn down the opportunity to lead
another start-up. My biggest passion is in launching and growing
successful companies, a practice to which I will now get to devote
myself," Clarke said in a statement.
Legorburu was in Australia last week, meeting with staff across SapientNitro's offices in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, following the appointment of former EuroRSCG chief executive Paul Bennett to the role of national managing director. Branagh will continue to be based out of the Brisbane office, but will now serve as managing director of global accounts.
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