Ogilvy group goes Human

The new chief creative officer of Ogilvy South Africa is Gerry Human, it was announced yesterday, Tuesday, 27 May 2008. Formerly executive creative director of Ogilvy Johannesburg, this new role will see him managing the creative product and talent for the entire Ogilvy Group.

According to Ogilvy South Africa CEO Nunu Ntshingila, Human's appointment forms an important part of Ogilvy's strategy to continually improve its creative output across the 13 operating units in South Africa. “Given his track record and the amazing job he has done lifting the creative output in Johannesburg over the past five years, he is the best-placed person to fulfill the role of group creative head,” she says.

Of his new role at Ogilvy, Human says “The delivery of my helicopter does seem to be taking longer than expected, but in the meantime I guess we'll just get on with what we do best - make great work that works! We have an unrivalled team of creative leaders at Ogilvy, so it's a great privilege to represent them at this level. Ogilvy has always fostered a culture of creativity, so it makes sense to take this forward into the future.”

Since 1988, Human worked at big name agencies such as TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris and Net#work BBDO and in 1998 he opened the hot shop HarrisonHuman. In 2003, Ogilvy acquired HarrisonHuman and brought Human on board as executive creative director of Ogilvy Johannesburg.

Human's work has been honoured with a multitude of creative accolades, including three Grand Prix and 40 Gold Loeries, 16 Cannes Lions and a Grand Prize at the London International Awards, to name but a few.

In 2003 Human served on the Cannes Film Jury and was chairman of the Creative Circle from 2004 to 2006. He currently serves on the holding board of Ogilvy South Africa, the executive committee of the Creative Circle and the board of the Loerie Awards.