Dave Clemans, the former Crispin Porter + Bogusky creative executive associated with Volkswagen’s “Safe Happens” pitch and the teen anti-tobacco campaign “Truth,” has been named executive creative director of Taxi’s New York office.
He replaces the office’s previous ecd Ron Smrczek who assumed that role at Taxi’s Amsterdam’s office in February.
Prior to joining Taxi, Clemans was ecd at CHI & Partners where his clients included Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile, Samsung, and Virgin. He was also instrumental in helping the agency move into the U.S. market from its London headquarters.
Before joining CHI, Clemans worked at CP+B, where he was cd on Burger King Germany, Holland, and Poland. He also worked on VW and during an earlier stint at CP+B, was an architect of the agency’s anti-tobacco work.
Last November, Taxi, a Canadian agency founded in Montreal in 1992 by Paul Lavoie, was acquired by WPP and became a stand-alone unit within the holding company’s Young & Rubicam Brands unit.
The agency has been on a roll with new business lately. In June, Taxi, along with Y&R, was tapped to handle Revlon's global creative account. Around the same time, Kraft added Taxi to its agency roster, giving the agency responsibility for MiO water flavor enhancer, the company’s first new brand in 15 years. Kraft described MiO as its biggest investment on a new business in the last decade.