Entering the Hall of Honor
Steph Kohnen, Executive Creative DirectorBrands want a place in culture. What I’m most excited for at MullenLowe is making work that goes beyond just advertising and is culturally relevant.
Building Something New
Building Something New
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MullenLowe West welcomes a new executive creative director, head of strategy and head of account management
In an effort to create breakthrough, culturally relevant advertising, MullenLowe West’s president Jenn Wong hired a new executive team — including Steph Kohnen as executive creative director, Donesh Olyaie as head of strategy and Kim Withee as head of account management.
“It’s been a huge opportunity for me as a leader to handpick the talent and personality for this leadership team,” Wong told Campaign US, noting Olyaie’s expertise on changing economies, Withee’s agency and client experience and Kohnen’s “incredible, creative mind.”
Kohnen, who won an Emmy for advertising work that launched The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, started her position in October and will focus on expanding MullenLowe’s creative vision to ground the agency in culture. She reports to Wong and MullenLowe U.S. CEO Frank Cartagena.
Kohnen explained she created “culturally relevant, breakthrough work” with Taco Bell during a four-year stint as SVP, group creative director at Deutsch LA. Leading the Taco Bell business, Kohnen created Mexican Pizza: The Musical, featuring Dolly Parton and Taco Bell’s first global campaign, Taco Moon. Her work partnering Taco Bell with rapper and singer Doja Cat landed Taco Bell on the Time 100 Most Influential Companies list.
Donesh Olyaie, Head of StrategyWhen problems are so front and center, you’re focused on fixing them in the short term, in the next two quarters. A good advertising partner won’t take eyes off of guaranteeing long-term brand success and pulling in value that’s needed to keep brands competitive longer down the line.
Olyaie, who joined as head of strategy in August, emphasized that his role will solve business challenges with culturally-oriented solutions, explaining how this improves the longevity of brand success. He reports to Wong.
Before joining MullenLowe, Olyaie spent three years as director of strategy for Liquid Sunshine, Keurig Dr Pepper’s internal creative marketing unit. Previously, he developed data-driven strategies at David & Goliath for Kia’s rebranding, along with Jack in the Box, Universal Studios and LG Mobile. Olyaie also worked at Deutsch LA with PetSmart and Nintendo.
Kim Withee, Head of Account ManagementI’m coming back to the agency side after being client-side for the past four years, which is very exciting in itself. It helps me ask better questions, understand where clients come from and push for better work — it’s a beautiful blend of these two perspectives that makes me better at my job.
Withee, who aims to strengthen client relationships with creative solutions, built on Olyaie’s point, explaining that long-lasting client relationships stem from “empathy” across roles, something she developed from working client-side. She began as head of account management in September and reports to Wong.
She was most recently program manager at Creative X, Meta’s in-house creative agency and led global marketing for Instagram and WhatsApp. She has also worked with Deutsch LA, NerdWallet, TBWA/Chiat/Day LA and Team One with brands including Volkswagen, Infiniti, Lexus, Target, Lowe’s and McDonald’s.
Overall, MullenLowe West’s new hires are part of larger efforts to “pivot and redefine” the agency, Olyaie said.
“One of the biggest obstacles to change is luggage of past history,” he explained. “The entire team is new, and everyone is coming in with the expectation that we are building something new.”
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