Melissa Robertson and Kate Waters out at Now
Now’s chief executive and chief strategy officer are exiting the agency they co-founded.
Robertson (left) and Waters exit Now
Kate Waters, chief strategy officer and founding partner of the London indie, is joining ITV as director of client strategy and planning.
Her move to the broadcaster has prompted Now’s chief executive and co-founder, Melissa Robertson, to also step down after seven years.
In a release, Now stated it would not be replacing the duo directly. It will continue to be managed by chairman and founding partner John Townshend, chief creative officer and partner Remco Graham, head of strategy Ben Steward and creative services director Simon Jerome.
Business director Toby Fairclough will join the board, while associate creative directors Sarah Levitt and Laura Muse have been promoted to creative directors.
Robertson said: “It was only natural that the departure of one of my dear co-founders would make me take stock of what the next ten years of my career looks like. I feel my work of establishing a really strong leadership team at Now is done and the time has also come for me to seek out my next challenge.
“It has been an incredible ride building this agency and I am so proud of the work we’ve done over seven years.”
Townshend added: “Kate and Melissa have been partners with me from the launch of the agency. So inevitably I feel very emotional. They are quite simply two of the best people I have worked with in my 30 years in advertising. They have put a totally unreasonable amount of time into building the agency to such a strong position – their heart and soul.
“And they leave us in a great place – we have had our best creative year ever, led by our chief creative officer Remco Graham. In our next chapter, we shall continue to strive for great work, be passionate about diversity and unlocking young talent.”