FREEMAN INTRODUCES WORLD-CLASS TALENT TO THE BRAND EXPERIENCE CHANNEL
Peter McGrath (left) and Haluk Kulin join Freeman to focus on creative, strategy and data for digital and live experiences
Freeman, the leading global provider of brand experiences, today announced the hiring of two renowned executives as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to bring world class talent to drive the future of brand experience.
Peter McGrath, a longtime successful creative leader at The Walt Disney Company, starts his new role as senior vice president of creative for Freeman’s agency division, FreemanXP. Haluk Kulin, a global marketing leader at multinational consumer goods company Unilever and a pioneer in building trust and value through data, joins as senior vice president of strategy and data for FreemanXP.
Freeman continues to evolve and innovate the brand experience category, inspiring massive change on a global scale using data-driven insights to connect people in ways that are meaningful and measurable. “Both Peter and Haluk see the tremendous opportunity to join a global enterprise and work with the world’s leading organizations to innovate the brand experience channel,” said Bob Priest-Heck, Freeman’s president. “Big thinkers, leaders, and innovators in their own right, Peter and Haluk have come to us from other industries and will continue to amplify the transformation Bruce Mau, our chief design officer, is leading.”
At Disney, McGrath led the Creative Studio of Walt Disney Imagineering as Executive of Creative Development – the creative division of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide – among other leadership roles during his 25-year career with the company. At Freeman, McGrath will oversee the creative department to nurture and maximize creative across the enterprise.
Kulin joins Freeman after more than a decade at Unilever, where he developed some of its most successful brands and founded Personal BlackBox, a public benefit corporation that helps companies unlock the full potential of customer data with trust and transparency. At Freeman, Kulin will be charged with harnessing data to deliver integrated customer solutions that combine data, strategy, research, and creative capabilities.
Both men will also hold a position on Freeman’s newly created Design Leadership Council, a team of 10 intellectual, design-thinking leaders, who bring a unique, transformative point of view that will help Freeman and its customers battle complacency, risk aversion, and time constraints to invent new ways of inspiring change.
“Hiring people with the skills and experience that Peter and Haluk bring continues our commitment to deliver new and unprecedented brand experiences for our customers,” said Dan Hoffend, president of FreemanXP. “With Peter’s incredible creative knowledge and Haluk’s deep, data-driven marketing insights, we are well positioned to evolve the industry with services and delivery capabilities for our clients.”
Over the past year, Freeman has continued to bolster its creative, data, and measurement capabilities with key hires and acquisitions. In November, Freeman announced Bruce Mau’s appointment as chief design officer. In May, the company acquired leading data and measurement company Exhibit Surveys.
FreemanXP uses the power of intersectional design thinking to create and deliver innovative, personalized brand experiences that drive results. Whether online or live, we connect individuals and brands in ways that accelerate engagement and create transformational change on a global scale. FreemanXP is backed by the reputation, stability, and superior service of Freeman. We leverage Freeman’s experience, relationships, and unmatched global resources to bring a whole new level of flexibility and scale to our clients’ programs. For more information on FreemanXP visit http://www.freemanxp.com.
FREEMAN CREATES DESIGN COUNCIL TO INNOVATE THE BRAND EXPERIENCE CHANNEL
Design council harnesses Freeman’s reach and uses design thinking to innovate digital and live experiences
Freeman, the world’s leading provider of brand experiences, announced today the new Freeman Design Leadership Council, an influential group of 10 global design visionaries and leading experts tapped to collaboratively push the future of design for the brand experience category.
The council was created and selected by Freeman chief design officer, award-winning design industry legend and author Bruce Mau. The group will advise Freeman as curators of relevant developments in their areas of expertise to accelerate the strategic transformation of branded experiences for Freeman, and ultimately the industry as a whole. The council was unveiled one day before Mau is to be honored by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum as a 2016 National Design Awards winner.
“The council members represent diverse, essential aspects of design innovation, and we are excited to bring these big thinkers together to exchange ideas and motivate change in the growing medium of brand experience,” Mau said. “I am deeply honored to be able to lead this team and drive the transformative change that will shape our industry for years to come.”
Council members have deep areas of expertise in specialties ranging from managing organizations for innovation, to designing new experiences both real and virtual, to best practices for designing artificial intelligence and data analytics. Membership to the council will not be limited to a set number and will evolve over time. The initial 10 council members are:
Alex McDowell, Creative Director, Experimental Design Director, World Building Institute, World Building Media Lab, USC School of Cinematic Arts
Bruce Vaughn, Former Chief Creative Executive, Walt Disney Imagineering
Charles Adler, Co-founder, Kickstarter, Founder Lost Arts
David Butler, VP, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Coca-Cola
Gina Warren, Executive Vice President of Culture & Talent, lululemon athletica
Haluk Kulin, Founder, Personal BlackBox
Itamar Kubovy, Executive Producer, Pilobolus
Peter McGrath, Former Leader of the Creative Studio of Walt Disney Imagineering, Executive of Creative Development
Robert Schmidle Jr., United States Marine Corps (Ret.)
Sergei Gepshtein, Scientist, Director for Adaptive Sensory Technologies, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
“When we look around, it’s clear that the important, transformational work is being done by companies and brands that embrace a design perspective,” said Bob Priest-Heck, president of Freeman. “The creation of this design council is an important next step in embracing Bruce Mau’s methodology to make massive change possible. As a global leader in brand experience, Freeman acknowledges that the notion of being data driven is inseparable from being a design brand.”
Itamar Kubovy, executive producer of the internationally acclaimed arts organization Pilobolus, who also serves as curator of the council, said, “It’s an honor to be invited by Bruce and Freeman to help find, assemble, and coordinate these leaders in enterprise design to accelerate the evolution of a field.”
Kubovy continued, “Freeman’s long-standing track record with some of the world’s biggest brands provides a huge opportunity not just to reimagine, but to make a real impact on what’s possible in live experience design. The council I’m helping Bruce and Freeman assemble will work collectively to catalyze change in diverse areas, both inside the company and in terms of what we are able to offer our partners.”
Beyond the Freeman Design Leadership Council, Freeman is formulating the future of live engagements with new offerings like the Freeman Learning Cycle, a design-driven methodology to capture and capitalize on project intelligence, resulting in higher-quality work, better client satisfaction, and reduced inefficiencies.
“While we have a long-standing relationship with Freeman, we have been working to strengthen our business through the Freeman Learning Cycle for over two years and in doing so, have created immersive experiences that pushed the boundaries and delivered outcomes never imagined. We have seen tremendous increases in revenue and more activations than ever before,” said Nancy Walsh, president of Reed Exhibitions, North America. “I applaud Freeman for having the courage and foresight to look outside of their industry for a different perspective and expertise that have had a profound impact on our business.”
Mau is being recognized by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum as a 2016 National Design Awards winner at a gala on October 20. The prestigious awards recognize excellence and innovation across a variety of disciplines. Mau was awarded the Design Mind, given in recognition of a visionary who has had a profound impact on design theory, practice, or public awareness. The awards are accompanied each year by National Design Week, which will take place Oct.15–23 and which includes a variety of public education programs, panel discussions, and workshops.
In more than a quarter-century of design work, Mau has been committed to creative, healthy, ecological, and economic abundance. He is the co-founder and CEO of Massive Change Network design consultancy, which applies the transformative power of enterprise design to bring massive change on a global scale. Mau’s role at Freeman, modeled on the long-running relationship between designer George Nelson and furniture company Herman Miller, allows Mau the flexibility to guide a strategic partnership with his Massive Change Network and collaborate on other projects.
Freeman is the world’s largest brand experience company. They help their clients design, plan, and deliver immersive experiences for their most important audiences. Through comprehensive solutions including strategy, creative, logistics, digital solutions, and event technology, Freeman helps increase engagement and drive business results. What makes them different is their collaborative culture, intuitive knowledge, global perspective, and personalized approach, gained from 90 years as an industry leader. Freeman is a family-owned company with 90+ locations worldwide, and more than 7,000 employees, 2,000 of which are located outside of the U.S. For more information, visit www.freemanco.com.
Bruce Mau is a world-leading visionary, innovator, and author who is widely regarded as one of the most influential designers of his generation. He is co-founder and CEO of the Massive Change Network design consultancy, which applies the transformative power of design thinking and an enterprise design approach to helping businesses and institutions innovate. Mau has worked with leading companies, including Coca-Cola, The Walt Disney Company, McDonald’s, MoMA, Herman Miller, and the Seattle Public Library; with countries that include Guatemala, Denmark, and Saudi Arabia; and alongside star architects Frank Gehry and Rem Koolhaas on design collaborations. Mau and his team recently completed a three-year project with Walt Disney Imagineering, and Mau designed a master plan for Mecca to reimagine this historic site for the challenges of the next 1,000 years. For more information, visit www.massivechangenetwork.com.
