It’s a rough day when you lose both your chief creative officer and chief creative officer. Lucky Generals has wrested Shelley Smoler from Droga5 London to become its first chief creative officer and Damien Le Castrec to become chief strategy officer.
Smoler will report into founder Danny Brooke-Taylor, leading the creative work of the Generals’ London office. Brooke-Taylor will build on key relationships such as Virgin Atlantic as well as leading the growth of its New York agency, following its Universal Studios win this year.
Smoler has spent seven years at Droga5 London, where she was instrumental in building the agency, and led acclaimed work for Amazon Alexa, books and Prime Video, Uniqlo, Brewdog and Coca Cola. Before that, she rose to creative director and partner at BBH London, working on Audi, Google and The Guardian. She began her career in her homeland of South Africa and made her breakthrough as part of the TBWA Hunt Lascaris team behind the campaign for The Zimbabwean newspaper, which won over 50 awards, including a D&AD Black Pencil and Cannes Grand Prix.
Le Castrec will report into founder Andy Nairn, driving the strategic work of the agency’s London office and working with Nairn on the agency’s own brand. Originally from France, he has spent the last 14 years working in the UK, first at Publicis and then at BBH where he worked on the 2018 IPA Grand Prix-winning Audi UK account UK, and the APG-winning Before they book campaign for World Animal Protection. He joined Droga5 in 2018. During his six years at Droga5, Le Castric contributed to the success of both global and domestic brands, including Amazon Alexa, Prime Video, Barclaycard, Vestiaire Collective and Royal Enfield. He also built the strategy department and developed new strategic offerings for Chanel and Philips.
Smoler and Le Castric have worked together for over a decade at BBH and Droga5. They complete the Generals’ day-to-day leadership team, alongside CEO, Cressida Holmes-Smith, and managing director, Vickie Ridley.
Lucky Generals founder, Helen Calcraft, stated, “We could not be more delighted to have Shelley and Damien on board. Not only are they fantastically talented individuals, but they are also a formidable team and genuine powerhouse of insight and creativity. This has felt seamless and natural since the day we met them, and we cannot wait to see how they will both support and challenge us to be the best we can be. We have never felt luckier.”
Smoler and Le Castric added, “We’ve absolutely loved our time at Droga5 and remain incredibly proud of all the things we’ve done together but after 7 years, it’s time for a change. Finding a place where culture, strategy, and creativity are everything is rare. It means everything to them, and it means everything to us. And now, we are ready to make our own luck together.”
