London - Saatchi & Saatchi London has hired creative duo Xander Smith (copywriter) and Jonathan Santana (art director).
Smith and Santana will join Saatchi & Saatchi in July from TBWA Paris where they have worked into Erik Vervroegen for three and a half years and one year respectively.
At Saatchi & Saatchi, the pair will report into the creative partners Paul Silburn and Kate Stanners, working across a range of the London agency's clients. They will also work with Richard Russell, the creative director on the agency's Toyota Europe business.
In 2007, Santana won the outdoor grand prix at Cannes and a D&AD yellow pencil for his work for Nedbank which saw the agency create the world's first solar powered billboard to generate electricity to power a local school. In the same year he won another gold at Cannes for the "Ghost Pops" poster campaign. Smith also won two gold lions at Cannes for the Mapa "Sensitive Hands" print campaign and for the Sony PlayStation print campaign.
Silburn said, "Xander and Jonathan have already done some great work for many clients in South Africa and France. Their track record is outstanding. They'll bring a great deal of multi-cultural experience with them and we're really looking forward to having them on board."
Smith and Santana said, "We're joining Saatchi & Saatchi London at just the right time. There's a real energy in the creative department and we're excited about producing some great work with Paul, Kate and Richard."
Prior to joining TBWA Paris, Smith was at Lowe Bull in South Africa. He began his career as a copywriter at TBWA Hunt Lascaris in South Africa in 2001. Before moving to TBWA Paris, Santana spent seven years at Net#work BBDO in South Africa as an art director.
The pair's client experience includes Nissan, General Motors, PlayStation, South African Tourism, Virgin Atlantic as well as a broad range of clients in the banking, broadcast, FMCG, public service and travel and tourism sectors.
Smith and Santana have worked together since 2007 when they met at TBWA Paris. They have 40 international and 27 South African awards between them.
The appointment reinforces the SSF Group's stated ambition of championing creativity to drive growth at both Saatchi & Saatchi and Fallon.
For more information on Xander Smith and Jonathan Santana and to see their work, visit: www.myspace.com/xanderjonathan
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