Cascaid aims up wake up charity DM creativity with joint creative directors
Howard Lake | 15 January 2007 | News
In an unusual move, charity marketing agency Cascaid has appointed joint creative directors. Simon Frank and Reuben Turner both come from big brand commercial agencies. Cascaid’s managing director Alan Clayton said he has appointed them “to wake up and reinvigorate a sector that has become lethargic in its acceptance of poor and static creativity.”
Clayton added: “Rightly charities have been heavily focussed on targeting and planning in recent years but timing, relevancy and audience simply has to go hand in hand with fantastic, hard-working creative to bring in winning results. It’s time for a shake up and Cascaid will be pushing up the stakes for the benefit of our clients.”
Simon Frank’s experience of big brand, above-the-line commercial advertising includes a 10-year stint at international advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, EuroRSCG, and WPP Group agency Red Cell as Executive Creative Director. He has worked on adverts for Ford, American Express, Guinness, BUPA, the BBC and Microsoft, as well as the British Red Cross, Landmines (MAG) and Save the Children.
Advertisement
“Charities have powerful stories behind them but the sector simply isn’t ambitious enough”, said Frank. “It maybe through fear of risk or restricted budgets but there’s no excuse, creating a campaign without the luxury of throwing money at it should force more creativity not less and there is huge potential.”
Reuben Turner is joining Cascaid from DM agency Proximity where he was Creative Group Head responsible for accounts including Save the Children and RNLI. He has extensive knowledge and skills in specialist creative for direct marketing and integrated media.
Like Frank, he is keen to stimulate innovation within the sector. “Charity marketing is hugely competitive with relatively small audiences”, he said, “everyone waits for the next big idea but the industry needs far more innovation – there is an old and lazy sector obsession with dull, poorly created direct mail.
“I want to work with a flourishing energetic agency that’s not afraid to change the way we talk to donors and to find new ways of telling the truth about the state of the world and what our clients can do about it.”
The joint appointment follows business growth of 47% for Cascaid in 2006. Indeed, the agency is relocating from Reading to central London offices at Oxford Circus.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.