There are certain agencies that seem to operate, long after their peak influence, as a kind of permanent reunion committee. Crispin Porter + Bogusky — or Crispin, as it has been known since it dropped the other names from its marquee a few years back — may be the most dedicated to this particular art form.
Ben James, who was an art director at the Boulder agency during its celebrated run in the early 2000s, has returned as chief creative officer, reuniting with an agency he never quite left in spirit. Mr. James had been an informal adviser to Maggie Malek, the agency's chief executive, for the past four years — fielding calls, offering perspective, doing the sort of work that agencies often pay consultants to do but rarely pay former employees to do.
(One imagines the first draft of the offer letter simply read: "Since we've been calling you anyway...")
Ms. Malek, describing how the appointment came about, said the relationship had been collegial enough that formalizing it felt inevitable. "He was like, 'Why don't we just finally make it official?'" she said. "It came about really naturally and organically, and it's been fun because we speak each other's language."
Mr. James, who joined in August, succeeds Kim Baskinger, whose tenure in the role lasted approximately six months — a duration that, at certain agencies in certain eras, might have been considered the beginning of a long run rather than the end of a short one.
Crispin, which is owned by Stagwell, the holding company built by Mark Penn, has spent the past several years working to recapture some of the cultural relevance it commanded when it was producing work for Burger King, Mini Cooper, and Domino's. Whether Mr. James's return signals a genuine creative renaissance or simply a comfortable homecoming remains to be seen.
But at least now the agency will be paying for those phone calls.
Original story published in adweek.com: "Ben James Boomerangs Back to Crispin as CCO"