Today BASIC has announced the hire of four executives: Cristina Torres of AKQA as Executive Director; Michael Madavi of Apple as Senior Strategist; Steve Denekas of Instrument as VP of Creative; and Danielle Higgins as Marketing Director.
The promotions and new hires support growth for the agency as the company has doubled in revenue, taking on major new clients like Snapchat, L’Oreal and Heath Ceramics. Here’s more on everything they’ve got going on, including new hires, office space and a fresh approach to employee onboarding/recruiting:
NEW MOUNTAIN VIEW SPACE: Torres and Madavi will work out of the agency’s newly opened Mountain View office space, embedded in a global technology client of BASIC. Torres will be overseeing operations at the highest level as the Executive Director for the Bay Area office, bringing experience from running Apple, Jordan and Levi’s programs at AKQA. Madavi, former Marketing Manager at Apple and R/GA Strategist, will lead strategy across all creative teams and efforts for the tech brand’s work.
PORTLAND → SAN DIEGO: Denekas and Higgins are based at the newly launched headquarters in San Diego, hailing to SoCal from Portland, OR. As the agency’s first VP of Creative, Denekas will be working alongside agency leadership and collaborating with those who have built the company to take Basic to the next chapter. He spent five years as VP of Creative at the digital agency Instrument and previously acted as Global Brand Design Director at Wieden+Kennedy on Levis. Higgins will help shape the BASIC story, responsible for passion projects, business development and overall growth bringing experience as a Creative Producer for Amazon, Nike, Xbox and Adidas.
PROMOTING LONGSTANDING EMPLOYEES: The agency also promoted five staff within in its San Diego office, Andrew Yanoscik to Creative Director overseeing Brand Strategy; Erwin Hines to Creative Director for Innovation; Ashley Reichel to VP of Operations; Jon Vlasach to Design Director; and Ryan Vancil to Associate Design Director.
CULTURE FLOWS THROUGH THE AGENCY: To support all of the growth, BASIC also launched a Culture Manual, an interactive digital guidebook that flips the script on the typical onboarding process, showcasing the values and history of the agency via an interactive experience.
On the news, CEO/Founder, Matt Faulk adds: “This growth for BASIC shows us brands are resonating with our experience focused approach to digital. Each of these new hires and promotions has been handpicked as a fit for our agency’s philosophy of bringing brands and culture together. We can’t wait to get to work in our new spaces."
