Tom Punch, Vice Media’s global chief creative and commercial officer, has left the media company after six years to join ad agency Spring Studios.
Punch has been named global president and chief creative officer for Spring Studios across its offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Milan. In the new role, Punch reports to Spring Studios CEO Richard Yaffa.
His departure from Vice comes after a series of senior-executive changes at the company — including the naming of former A+E Networks chief Nancy Dubuc as CEO this spring, replacing Shane Smith in the role, a move coming after allegations of misconduct at the Brooklyn-based company.
Vice recently instituted a hiring freeze under Dubuc, and the company is looking to shrink its headcount through attrition. A Wall Street Journal report last week, citing anonymous sources, said Vice’s revenue for 2018 is projected to be flat with last year. Meanwhile, Disney took a $157 million write-down on its investment in Vice for the September quarter.
Punch’s last day at Vice was Nov. 2. At the company he oversaw commercial content and operations, including for the Viceland cable channel. He led the company’s internal agency, called Virtue, which worked with brands including Netflix, Lululemon, L’Oréal, Budweiser, McDonald’s, Unilever, Samsung, YouTube and Google. He also started the company’s branded-content studio Vice+ Productions.
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“Tom’s global experience and achievements will continue to expand Spring’s role as aspirational storytellers, carving out a strategic space where culture and commerce collide,” Yaffa said in a statement.
Prior to joining Vice in 2012, Punch had worked at ad agencies including Mother and GroupM’s MediaCom.
Spring Studios describes itself as combining high-end agency, production and content capabilities. “Spring has architected a beautiful platform to build upon,” Punch said in a statement provided by the agency. “Its merging of culture with commerce, community with content, and digital with physical has attracted a talented community of hybrid creative, business people that I can’t wait to get to work with.”