Redscout hires BBH’s Dan Hauck as head of strategy for London

Having worked both traditional agency and client side earlier in his career Hauck said he was attracted to Redscout because of its “strong entrepreneurial spirit”.

“There is a new generation of strategists coming up and there isn’t really a place for them currently. At Redscout everyone is very much encouraged to be an entrepreneurial within the business, which puts us in an interesting position in the UK,” he said.

Redscout is part of US holding group MDC Partners, which also owns Albion and Doner. It launched a London office last year appointing former Publicis London deputy managing director Jason Cobbold as MD, who Hauck will report to.

Cobbold said there is currently an unhealthy amount of cynicism in the UK advertising market, with agencies too often thinking they have already seen a client problem before, which can lend itself towards an "in-built snobbery" when it comes to TV ads. "But actually, it can be a smaller, incremental thing that will change the business. We like to think at Redscout we have a wide-eyed optimism," he added.

Forward-thinking clients are increasingly on the lookout for agencies which can offer solutions to specific brand problems, as opposed to delivering standard advertising campaigns. Bacardi is among such brands and has been a partner of Redscout in the US for several years, during which time the agency has helped re-orientate its brand strategy to reclaim its title as ‘King of the Rums’.

This saw it pare back the brand’s product architecture to anchor it around gold rather than white rum to form Bacardi Gold, deemed a more masculine rum made in the Cuban style The move gave it more prominence and tied it more closely with Bacardi Superior. It identified a new signature serve that it could own - the Cuba Libre. To help bring the story of the drink into bars and to the attention of drinkers Redscout designed an iconic new metal cup (see above), which Bacardi has since described as the most successful piece of collateral in its history and now has been rolled out to 80 countries.

This innovation strategy around the brands, saw Bacardi Gold, alongside Cuba Libre become a “brand halo”, and in markets where it has been pushed it has elevated perceptions of Superior, with the brand tracking “significant lifts” in desire and conversions for the drink.

Dima Ivanov's, global chief marketing officer of Bacardi, said: "Redscout is a very unique agency. They combine the authority and smartness of an innovation and strategy agency, with the flair and energy of a creative agency. And, you won't find anyone more passionate about your brands and business. We really value our relationship with them and they are a key partner to our business growth.”

During his time at BBH London, Hauck ran a 40-strong department across a range of disciplines and led strategy on key accounts including British Airways, Clarks and Axe.

Prior to that he was global planning director at TBWA/ Chiat Day Los Angeles, where he led the global Nissan business.