Duncan Channon hires Noël Johnson as Director of Marketing and Client Engagement

Award-winning advertising agency adds MH VCCP veteran as part of strategic growth push   

 

Award-winning independent creative agency Duncan Channon today announced the hire of Noël Johnson as the agency’s first director of marketing and client engagement. Johnson’s hire is the latest in a series of talent investments to drive strategic growth and leverage the agency’s new experiential, influencer and social expertise. Since its acquisition of two-time Ad Age Small Agency of the Year A2G, Duncan Channon has added depth and diversity to its leadership team, including Partner, Chief Experience Officer Amy Cotteleer and Chief Integration Officer Gary Stein.

As director of marketing and client engagement, Johnson will be responsible for aligning new business efforts to strategic opportunities that grow the agency’s creative impact – and take advantage of Duncan Channon’s new integrated capabilities across advertising, media, experiential, influencer and social marketing. She will lead an initiative to refresh the agency’s positioning to reflect its contemporary offering, while staying true to DC’s long-held values of trust, collaboration and camaraderie.

Johnson will also serve as a dedicated advisor to new clients and client teams to ensure that new engagements get off to a strong start in the first 100 days and beyond. Her hybrid role is designed to offer clients additional senior leadership involvement as part of Duncan Channon’s commitment to building close, productive long-term relationships with clients.

“Noël’s addition to our leadership team reflects our ambition to reach the next level as an agency,” said Andy Berkenfield, CEO, Duncan Channon. “For us, the next level is about much more than a larger team and larger revenues – it’s about intentionally establishing and building client partnerships that are based on a shared desire to use creativity to impact business, culture and even social change. I think every successful independent shop reaches a point when you shift from organic growth to a more purposeful approach that reflects your creative aspirations.”

“As we’re more purposeful in the way we win new clients, we also want to be more purposeful about the overall experience and value we’re delivering to clients beyond the creative output. That’s why we created a hybrid role for Noël. She has the experience, thoughtfulness and curiosity to add real value on both ends of our business,” added Berkenfield.

Johnson joins Duncan Channon after helping build startup agency Most Likely To into a fast-growing boutique as partner and head of client services. She previously spent three years as Group Account Director at MH VCCP (formerly Muhtazik|Hoffer), where she led HP, SoFi, OXO and AAA accounts at a time when the agency doubled in size. She led the new business effort that won the SoFi business and oversaw the brand’s national launch during the Super Bowl.

“I was attracted to Duncan Channon because they’ve had a strong reputation for a long time, but they’re not content,” said Noël Johnson, director of marketing and client engagement, Duncan Channon. “The leadership and the entire staff are incredibly driven – and their investment in A2G and new types of talent show that they’re serious about doing bigger and better things. The opportunity to help bring all these new pieces together to create something special is really exciting to me.”

About Duncan Channon

Duncan Channon (www.duncanchannon.com) is an award-winning independent, integrated advertising and design agency with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.  Founded in 1990, Duncan Channon is best known for turning StubHub into a household name, bottling the Hawaiian mindset for Kona Beer and educating the public on the dangers of vaping for the California Tobacco Control Program. This year, DC acquired A2G, a two-time Ad Age Small Agency of the Year and pioneer in experiential, influencer and social marketing, bringing a dynamic new roster of talent and capabilities to the agency. Duncan Channon runs on the philosophy of guanxi, the belief that clients and staff, brands and customers all win when they build real, trusting relationships. Current clients include SweeTARTS, Rakuten, Kona Brewing, the California Tobacco Control Program, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Netflix and High Ridge Brands.