Maja Pawinska Sims 04 Jan 2023 // 5:43PM GMT
LONDON — Boldspace has appointed its first executive creative director, hiring former adland creative Mike Beukes to join its management team.
Over his career, Beukes has led creative strategy for brands including Toshiba, Mastercard, Pepsi, Glenfiddich and Sony and worked at advertising agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, TBWA, Publicis, Engine and JWT.
Beukes also launched and managed London based agency Warp & Woof and WPP’s MetropolitanRepublic in Cape Town, played a pivotal role in the development of the integrated offering at Saatchi & Saatchi South Africa and led creative at South African agency Duke.
Boldspace co-founder Nick Ford-Young said: “Hiring Mike is a fitting end to what has been a fantastic year. He is amongst the best in the business and his passion for delivering stunning creative strategy, combined with his love for growing and managing agencies, means he is the perfect addition to our management team. He will bring huge value to our clients and team as we continue our momentum in 2023 and beyond.”
Beukes added: “Boldspace’s progressive approach, built upon a foundation of potent, new tech, piqued my interested a while back. The integration of PR and advertising under one roof is modern, exciting and a Michelin-starred recipe for creating ground-breaking work. Needless to say, I can’t wait to kick off this new chapter.”
Other recent hires at the 40-strong agency include Yuko Kondo as art director and Dan Pillay as head of product for its BoldLens data and analytics platform. The agency hired its first creative director, Matt Weston, at the start of 2021. Clients added to the agency’s roster in 2022 included Fridays, Direct Line, Charles Tyrwhitt, and tech unicorn Deel.