Anna’s promotion follows Creative Partner Matt Keon’s decision to step down and return home to Australia after six years with the agency.
It became apparent that Anna’s notable creative work, including the 2015 ŠKODA Fabia Fight for Attention campaign, which used eye-tracking technology in an advertising first; and last year’s House of Fraser Christmas campaign, which shunned the narrative of the traditional Christmas campaign, demonstrated that Anna was the natural successor for the important role.
Anna has helped the agency challenge the monochrome styles that have dominated TV advertising this past decade, steering brands towards high impact ideas as part of the agency’s strategy to provide a new breed of UK creative talent with the platform and control to lead the industry in new directions.
Jonathan Trimble says, “I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the industry’s creative greats and after spending time looking at the current creative talent in the industry, I realised that Anna was the only choice for 18 Feet & Rising. She is intrinsically of the zeitgeist.”
Anna Carpen adds, “I grew up surrounded by great advertising and I believe there’s so much more to come from our industry creatively this decade. We’re on a tipping point, and my job is to help it tip."
Anna has been an integral part of shaping the agency since its inception, joining as employee number six within the first month of launch. The following year Anna was named one of Campaign’s Faces to Watch and the subsequent year her work was featured as one of ITV’s Top 20 TV Ads of the Year. Anna has been a part of the agency leadership team since her appointment as Creative Director in November 2014.
