PEOPLE : Ad Firm HDM Names Kovel L.A. Chairman

Perhaps the best way an ad agency can show it is serious about creating great advertising is to name a chairman from the creative side of the business.

That is exactly what the ad firm HDM Worldwide did this week when it named Lee Kovel to the newly created post of chairman at its Los Angeles office. The firm posts annual billings of about $130 million, but has previously kept a relatively low profile in the Los Angeles market.

“Our goal is to do the very best creative work in the marketplace,” said Kovel. “By naming a chairman who is a creative person, it raises that consciousness.”

Kovel, 38, who was formerly executive creative director of the office, has been with HDM just five months. Charles W. Reynolds Jr. remains president of the office. Both men report to Tim Pollak, who is chief executive of HDM Worldwide in New York.

The agency also named Candace Wong, 37, executive vice president and general manager. She was previously managing director of HDM China.

Prior to joining HDM, Kovel helped create a number of familiar commercials with several New York advertising agencies. At the ad firm Young & Rubicam he helped develop the award-winning Dr. Pepper commercial that featured a Godzilla-like creature that devours a water tower filled with Dr. Pepper--and then belches. He also helped develop the “We Do Chicken Right” campaign for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

In Los Angeles, HDM’s largest client is Westin Hotels & Resorts, for which it handles corporate commercials as well as ad campaigns for a number of the individual Westin hotels. The office recently won accounts that total nearly $10 million for the Mexican cities of Acapulco and Los Cabos.

“This is one of the few large agencies in town that isn’t ruled by an automotive account,” said Kovel. “For creative people, this is a playground agency.”