Freeman announces two new hires

Freeman has announced the hiring of two renowned executives, Peter McGrath and Haluk Kulin

Peter McGrath, a longtime creative leader at The Walt Disney Company, starts his new role as senior vice president of creative for Freeman’s agency division FreemanXP. Haluk Kulin, a global marketing leader at multinational consumer goods company Unilever and a pioneer in building trust and value through data, joins as senior vice president of strategy and data for FreemanXP.

“Both Peter and Haluk see the tremendous opportunity to join a global enterprise and work with the world’s leading organisations to innovate the brand experience channel,” said Bob Priest-Heck, Freeman’s president. “Big thinkers, leaders, and innovators in their own right, Peter and Haluk have come to us from other industries and will continue to amplify the transformation Bruce Mau, our chief design officer, is leading.”

At Disney, McGrath led the creative studio of Walt Disney Imagineering as executive of creative development – the creative division of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide – among other leadership roles during his 25-year career with the company. At Freeman, McGrath will oversee the creative department to nurture and maximise creative across the enterprise.

Kulin joins Freeman after more than a decade at Unilever, where he developed some of its most successful brands and founded Personal BlackBox, a public benefit corporation that helps companies unlock the full potential of customer data with trust and transparency. At Freeman, Kulin will be charged with harnessing data to deliver integrated customer solutions that combine data, strategy, research, and creative capabilities.

Both men will also hold a position on Freeman’s newly created Design Leadership Council, a team of 10 intellectual, design-thinking leaders, who bring a unique, transformative point of view that will help Freeman and its customers battle complacency, risk aversion, and time constraints to invent new ways of inspiring change.

“Hiring people with the skills and experience that Peter and Haluk bring continues our commitment to deliver new and unprecedented brand experiences for our customers,” said Dan Hoffend, president of FreemanXP. “With Peter’s incredible creative knowledge and Haluk’s deep, data-driven marketing insights, we are well positioned to evolve the industry with services and delivery capabilities for our clients.”

Over the past year, Freeman has continued to bolster its creative, data, and measurement capabilities with key hires and acquisitions. In November, Freeman announced Bruce Mau’s appointment as chief design officer. In May, the company acquired leading data and measurement company Exhibit Surveys.