Partners + Napier Expands Creative and Account Leadership to Support Major Wins

New leaders bring deep category expertise and experience guiding major brands

Partners + Napier is building on a period of tremendous momentum, adding five new leaders across its creative and account teams to help shape the agency’s work for Royal Caribbean, Checkers & Rally’s, and future client wins.

Backed by deep experience building iconic campaigns and guiding major brands, John Kearse, Mike Shaughnessy, Paul Renner, and Bayla Werman have already helped launch high-profile work in their new roles, including Royal Caribbean’s “It’s Big Time” and Checkers & Rally’s “This Eats Different.” Aimée Van Zile-Buchwalter joined in early October and will be leading work for MD Live, Parkview Health, and other complex accounts.

“Growth at Partners + Napier has always come from great people doing great work,” said Courtney Cotrupe, CEO of Partners + Napier. “John, Mike, Paul, Bayla, and Aimée embody that spirit, and their impact is already being felt across the agency. We’re excited to see where we can go together as one team.”

More on each new hire below:

• John Kearse joins as Executive Creative Director on Royal Caribbean, reuniting with Chief Creative Officer Rob Kottkamp after previously partnering on Royal Caribbean’s iconic “Come Seek” campaign. He also served as creative lead for a decade on the Truth anti-smoking campaign and has worked with clients including US Cellular, Google Cloud, Humana, Tag Body Spray, Santander, and Southern Comfort during his time at MullenLowe and Arnold Worldwide. Over his career, John has won over 500 industry awards, including Cannes, One Show, D&AD, countless Effies, and 2 Effies for his work on Truth.
• Mike Shaughnessy joins as Group Creative Director on Royal Caribbean after building much of his career at Hill Holliday, where he created award-winning campaigns for Dunkin’, Major League Baseball, Great Wolf Lodge, John Deere, Optum, Frontier Communications, Liberty Mutual, and Bank of America. His work has earned recognition from The One Show, Communication Arts, the MPA Kelly Awards, Hatch, Clio, and Lürzer’s Archive.
• Paul Renner joins as Executive Creative Director on Checkers & Rally’s, with a legendary portfolio of work from Wieden+Kennedy, Arnold Worldwide, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, KBS, Butler Shine and Stern, and Anomaly. His career highlights include ESPN’s “WITHOUT SPORTS” and “This Is SportsCenter”, Volkswagen's “Drivers Wanted” campaign, BMW’s global launch of the i8 and i3, and Budweiser’s “Grab Some Buds”. He has also worked in-house for DraftKings to help build their internal brand team and brand redesign. Paul’s work has been recognized by every major industry award show multiple times over.

• Bayla Werman joins as Group Account Director, coming from MullenLowe with more than 10 years of agency and client-side leadership experience. She has led integrated campaigns for JetBlue, Grey Goose, TJ Maxx, KFC, ASICS, and more.
• Aimée Van Zile-Buchwalter joins as Group Account Director after nearly a decade at MullenLowe, specializing in brand building with additional experience in content development and social media. She’s worked on a range of brands and clients, from the Department of Defense to Dunkin to Kevlar DuPont and more.

Added Rob Kottkamp, CCO of Partners + Napier, “Each of these individuals is a known and respected entity in our business, with significant talent and accolades. And as much as we value their accolades and experience, we’re really proud of what they’ve demonstrated as teammates and leaders. Culturally, they’re incredible additions.”

The hires mark an important milestone in Partners + Napier’s growth trajectory, underscoring the agency’s continued rise as a creative and media partner that brings together the right mix of talent, insight, and creativity to create business impact for brands.