Cossette, the number one Toronto agency that opened a Chicago office last May after winning the McDonald’s Owner/Operators of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana (MOCNI) business, has hired award-winning Chuck Rachford as executive creative director, after 14 years at DDB.
Rachford, who was EVP/group creative director at DDB, started his new position Monday, bringing the Colette Chicago full-time staff to 12.
He is a major high-profile creative hire for the agency, which is handling all general consumer marketing and advertising for the MOCNI co-op, comprised of nearly 500 McDonald’s restaurants.
Cossette won the account following a multi-national strategic and creative agency review.
The agency conducted an exhaustive search for a leading and undisputed creative leader, states Alyssa Huggins, managing director of Cossette Chicago, who’s been with the agency for five years and is the only Canadian in the growing Chicago office.
“We found that person in Chuck and we are thrilled to have him on board.”
Says Rachford, “It’s not every day you get a chance to help open an agency – let alone an agency with one of the most iconic brands in the world already on the roster. I’m honored to be part of the team.”
At DDB, Rachford worked on Bud Light, Starburst, Milky Way, Capital One and many other brands that earned him many of industry’s top awards including The One Show, CLIOs, and 10 Cannes Lions, including two Grand Prix for Bud Light.
Staff of 12 with plans to keep growing
Over the past four months, Cossette Chicago has hired its current full-time staff of two senior creatives, a head of strategic planning, a director of consumer and business insights, an account director, two account executives, a coordinator and an administrator.
The two senior creatives are writer Jeff Oswald, who’d had stints at DDB, Y&R and FCB, and art director Claudio Venturini, with experience at Goodby Silverstein, San Francisco, Leo Burnett, Chicago and Jung Von Matt in Germany, also a recent freelancer.
Huggins says they are in the process of hiring a junior creative team. Production responsibilities are currently being handled by freelance producers.
“We’re excited to be here,” says Huggins. “We are 100% focusing on our client and growing the business for them and extending our staff. Chicago is a great city for us to be in and we believe there is a future for us here.”
Plans are to build a mid-sized agency here using Cossette’s successful fully-integrated business model.
The office is located at 30 N. Racine in the West Loop at 30 N. Racine.
