Lars Bastholm Joins Cheil USA as Chief Creative Officer

Buz Sawyer is President & CEO of Cheil – The Americas. Buz is transforming Cheil’s presence in The Americas into the fastest-growing network of creative people and strategic business partners while developing a new type of holding company model based on a passion for quality ideas and a shared vision of collective growth. He joined Cheil in January 2011 as President of Cheil North America, and his responsibilities were recently expanded to include leading the growth of Cheil’s operations in Brazil and Central America as CEO of Cheil - The Americas.

Buz has a long history of building highly successful, creatively focused businesses.

Throughout his 25-year career, Buz has worked extensively with preeminent US and international clients in both consumer and business-to-business categories.

After stints at BBDO, NW Ayer, and The Lowe Group, Buz was hired by Wieden+Kennedy in 1990 to run their Nike account on a global scale. Two years later, he spearheaded the launch of Wieden+Kennedy’s first international office. As the Managing Director of Widen+Kennedy in Amsterdam, he grew the new agency from six employees to 125, with an impressive list of accounts including Nike, Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Heineken.

After six years, Buz returned to the US to run the San Francisco office of Interpublic Group’s Lowe, which he grew from 20 people to 100 in three short years. He rejoined Wieden+Kennedy in 2001 as the Managing Director of their New York office, and the agency went from 60 people to a staff of 200 in 10 years, serving ESPN, ABC Television, Nike and Delta Airlines.

Buz also serves as the non-executive Chairman of Hyper Island, the Swedish based education organization focused on helping communicators understand the new world of digital media.

Veteran strategist Dave Weaver is Chief Executive Officer of Cheil USA. His strong leadership is the driving factor behind the growth of Cheil Worldwide’s US flagship, Cheil USA. Weaver leads the agency’s experiential marketing, design and integrated advertising operations.

In early 2011, Weaver joined Cheil in The Americas as President of Cheil-owned One Agency, and spent the year preparing the company to be re-launched as Cheil USA. Weaver’s strategic vision for Cheil USA will turn the agency into a creative powerhouse that helps brands add value to people’s lives.

With over twenty years of experience directing strategy for some of the most respected and innovative companies in the world, Dave has won multiple Gold Effies for effectiveness and Cannes Gold Lions for creativity. He’s worked with a wide variety of clients, including technology companies HP and T-Mobile, automobile companies Nissan and Infiniti, sports entities such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Fox Sports Network, travel and tourism companies American Airlines and the Washington State Department of Tourism, dotcoms including Virgin.com and Real Networks and traditional packaged goods such as Nestle and Hot Pockets.

Most recently, Dave was Managing Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at TM Advertising, where he directed strategy and planning for clients including American Airlines, Bausch + Lomb and Superpages. He previously held executive positions leading strategy at Publicis and TBWA Chiat Day.

Lars Bastholm is Chief Creative Officer of Cheil USA, an advertising agency that helps brands add value to people’s lives. As CCO at Cheil Worldwide’s newly re-launched US flagship, Lars is focused on establishing Cheil USA as a center of creative excellence. He is also helping Buz Sawyer, CEO & President of Cheil – The Americas, elevate the creative integration across the America’s network, including Cheil Mexico, Cheil Brazil, Cheil Canada and Cheil Central America.

A former Cyber Lions Jury President and three-time Cyber Lions Grand Prix winner, Bastholm has become one of the most highly awarded and internationally renown creative leaders in the industry during his 16-year career.

He joins Cheil USA following two years digitally transforming Ogilvy North America as Chief Digital Officer and fueling Ogilvy New York’s growth as Chief Creative Officer, where he oversaw clients such as IKEA, American Express and Time Warner Cable. He was also a member of Ogilvy’s Worldwide Creative Council.

Bastholm previously spent four years at AKQA, where he was hired to open its New York office and helped land global Agency of Record accounts with Motorola, Coca-Cola and Smirnoff.

Prior to AKQA, he started-up Grey Interactive in Scandinavia and then joined Framfab in Denmark as Creative Director, working on

some of the world’s most recognized brands, such as Nike, LEGO, Coca-Cola and Carlsberg.

In 2009, Lars had the honor of chairing the Cannes Cyber Lions jury and he is a frequent speaker at industry events. He was named a creative leader by the Wall Street Journal and has contributed to three books about the digital advertising industry published by Taschen. He is a member of the IAB’s Agency Advisory Board as well as The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences.

Lars is also a bona fide film buff, who has co-written two screenplays and has worked on and off as a film reviewer for over 25 years. You can currently read his reviews on www.thursdayswithoutzada.com. Lars also enjoys karaoke as well as science fiction, technology and fine cuisine.