St Luke's has strengthened its strategy team with the appointment of two planning directors, both of whom are joining from Ogilvy.
Emma Banks and Charlotte Walters, who were senior strategists at WPP-owned Ogilvy, will report to Dan Hulse, chief strategy officer at the independent creative shop.
St Luke's said the pair were joining at a "key point" in the agency's growth. Over the past 12 months, it has increased headcount by 39% across creative, design and social.
Banks spent three years at Ogilvy, working on campaigns including the return of Sipsmith’s Mr Swan at this year’s Wimbledon and Boots’ Covid Response initiative, “Prescribe kindness”. She began her career at boutique agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky, working on brands such as PayPal and Hotels.com.
After moving to Ogilvy in 2017, Walters worked across the agency’s portfolio as strategist, creating the UK’s first youth mobile network, Voxi from Vodafone, and the style positioning “They’re Boots darling” for Boots Opticians.
She started her advertising career at Saatchi & Saatchi Moscow, before joining McCann London in 2014, where she was part of the team that created the Survival Billboard for Xbox.
Hulse said: “The last 18 months have created the need and opportunity for businesses to rapidly transform. Emma and Charlotte have a brilliant track record and energy for doing exactly that. If you’re an ambitious agency working with ambitious clients, they’re exactly the people you’d want on the team.”
St Luke’s was recently appointed lead creative agency for South Western Railway and craft beer brand Beavertown, both wins the result of competitive pitches. In 2020 Ocado announced St Luke’s as its lead creative agency.
Last month, the agency launched a childcare policy that offers staff with young children up to £500 per month to help with childcare costs for the first three years after maternity or paternity leave.
