Advertising veteran Dan Fietsam, formerly executive creative director with FCB Chicago and Energy BBDO, has joined Laughlin Constable as its chief creative officer, effective June 1.
Fietsam will lead creative across LC offices in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York and New Jersey, with the goal of “becoming one of the most successful ndependent agencies in the country,” says LC’s CEO Mat Lignel.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, Laughlin Constable is a 4A’s Top 25 independent agency, with annual billings in excess of $250 million.
“We are on a mission to constantly reinvent and push both ourselves and our clients,” Lignel adds. “Dan is the perfect partner to help us deliver on that promise, as he is one of the most recognized and admired creative leaders in the industry.”
Most recently, Fietsam has led his own creative consultancy, The Fietsam Group. He also teaches in Northwestern’s graduate program at the Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Communications, where he earned a master’s degree in 1988.
“I was already leaning into a more fluid and entrepreneurial model when I began talking with Mat about the possibility of working together,” says Fietsam.
“The more I learned about LC, the more I saw they had the business model, the infrastructure and the scale to grow and expand. Most importantly, I was in sync with the vision of ‘From Now to Next.’
“Being a part of the right team is critical to me. I was drawn to the leadership team and the people that Mat and Steve Laughlin have recruited to the agency.”
In addition to FCB Chicago and Energy BBDO, Fietsam has led creative teams at DDB and Y&R in Chicago and Publicis in Seattle.
While at FCB, he helped win the Michelob Ultra, T-Mobile and Fan Duel accounts and helped the agency claim seven Cannes Lions, along with three Pencils and 19 finalists at the 2015 One Show.
Prior to that, as CCO he helped Energy BBDO’s growth with the addition of new clients SC Johnson, Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pearle Vision, Anheuser Busch and King’s Hawaiian.
Laughlin Constable clients include the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, Bon-Ton Stores, Sears Holdings, Food Network, Lung Cancer Alliance, USA Network, PDC Brands, Medela, Northwestern Medicine, Master Lock, MillerCoors, Paris Presents, Palermo Villa and Bright Start / Oppenheimer Funds.
