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Creative Brave Bison

Brave Bison appoints Ad Land trio as part of ambitious 'DNA overhaul'

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By Tony Connelly, Sports Marketing Reporter

July 22, 2016 | 3 min read

Brave Bison has appointed a trio of ad land veterans as part of a major development shakeup which chief executive, Ashley MacKenzie, has described as a “DNA overhaul”.

Brave Bison

Brave Bison

Simon Pont’s arrival will see him take up the role of chief strategy officer, while Will Pyne has been hired as the new chief creative officer and Ian Samuel promoted to chief commercial officer.

Pont, an ad land veteran who has formerly held chief strategy roles at Vizeum and Starcom MediaVest,will report directly to the Brave Bison’s chief executive, Ashley MacKenzie, who returned to the company in October last year after a brief stint at AMK Consultancy.

Discussing the appointments MacKenzie said: "This is more than just about raising the bar on our creativity output overall. This is a DNA overhaul, about honing the talent we have in the business and making us a group of people – around the world – capable of producing industry recognised and culturally powerful work.”

Pont described the new scale and ambition of the company as “thrilling in itself,” and said the excitement was only matched by “the prospect of working with the talent, and having the means, by which to produce work that may redefine how people perceive and relate to brands.”

Pyne, formally a co-founder of creative agency Holler, summed up Brave Bison as a “dynamic, evolving and entrepreneurial business."

He added: “With access to influencer talent, and a long established expertise in video content, we’re brilliantly placed to create culturally significant work for both clients and for the company’s owned channels.”

Within the company itself Brave Bison’s marketing director, Ian Samuel, has been chosen to fill the role of chief commercial officer. Samuel has been with the business 8 years and was one of the founding team members instrumental in the growth of Base 79 and its subsequent acquisition by Rightster for £50m in 2014.

In March this year Brave Bison (formally Rightster) underwent a number of changes including a restructuring, the launch of Brave Talent and the formulation of a new digital plan which is now ready to be implemented.

Creative Brave Bison

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