McDonald's agency of record We Are Unlimited pegs Toygar Bazarkaya as its chief creative officer
Ari Weiss, chief creative officer of DDB North America, part of Omnicom announced this week the appointment of Toygar Bazarkaya as the chief creative officer for We Are Unlimited, McDonald’s creative agency of record.
Bazarkaya is Weiss’s first creative hire for the DDB Network since he started as chief creative officer of DDB North America in February. Weiss has been overseeing the agency’s creative department and will continue to do so until Bazarkaya begins on May 15, 2017. Bazarkaya will report directly to Weiss, and lead the agency in partnership with chief executive officer Brian Nienhaus and the Unlimited executive team
Weiss selected Bazarkaya because of his ability to create work that not only drives business results for brands, but pushes the boundaries of creativity. With more than ten years of international experience, Bazarkaya’s work has won over 600 awards, including more than 20 Cannes Lions for a dozen brands.
“Toygar is one of those rare creative leaders who moves mountains," Weiss said. “He didn’t earn his stripes working in the margins. He does award winning work that drives real business forward. Businesses like Mercedes, Gillette, Dos Equis and Visa. I can’t wait to see what he does with the Golden Arches.”
Most recently, Bazarkaya was chief creative officer of the Americas and Chairman of the Global Creative Council for Havas Worldwide. In this role, he elevated the creative profile of the New York agency and built a creative network across the North and South American talent. Bazarkaya focused on strengthening the network’s creativity and innovation.
During his tenure at Havas, Bazarkaya oversaw the work for brands such as IBM, Liberty Mutual, Dos Equis, Sony, TD Ameritrade and Reckitt Benckiser. Less than a year after assuming the CCO of Americas role, Bazarkaya was named to Adweek’s Creative 100 list.
Prior to Havas, Bazarkaya spent six years at BBDO New York where he led global brands like Visa, Gillette, Campbell’s, HP, Mars and MLB. Before that, Bazarkaya was the CCO of BBDO Germany, where he helped the agency become the country's most awarded network at the 2008 Cannes Festival.
Throughout his career Bazarkaya gained extensive experience building brands in the US and internationally having worked at Jung von Matt and Springer & Jacoby in Hamburg, DM9DDB in São Paulo, Mullen in Boston, and DDB New York.
“I couldn’t ask for a better partner to run Unlimited,” Nienhaus said. “After a comprehensive search to fill this role, Toygar is the far and away best candidate with strength as a creative, a creative leader and a passion for the unique data-informed agency we are building.”
In 2017, Bazarkaya will be the foreman of the Craft in Advertising jury at D&AD and he also will be the jury president for the TV/Cinema/Online Film category for the London International Awards. In 2015 he sat on the Cannes jury for the Outdoor category.
“Unlimited is what happens when the stars align, when one of the most iconic brands and agencies create a blueprint for the future of our industry,” Bazarkaya said. “It’s a new way of collaboration that our industry hasn’t seen yet. Great things happen when the best from every discipline collaborate with one common goal and one voice. I couldn't be more excited to join the team.”