New York.


Our business in New York is a partnership with Havas Health & You. Housed in Midtown, we partner with colleagues from across the network to create and deliver global branding and design solutions for multiple industry sectors.

FIND OUT MORE:

01. Meet the team
02. Latest work
03. Our global locations

Meet the team.

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Conran People BenSolomon Focus
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James March
Conran People IanHowlett
Christopher Penny
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Thom Newton
Global CEO
Thom is responsible for the overall leadership of Conran Design Group across all of our regional operations; UK, US and India. He works closely with both clients and internal teams and provides brand and communications advice at leadership level on key global accounts.

Thom works with our clients to ensure their business objectives are met through the implementation of effective brand strategy. He led the recent global rebrand of Reckitt, the launch, renaming and repositioning of Clario and a range of other client assignments across multiple business sectors.

Thom is inspired by the transformative effect that great design can have on business and society and is focused on continuing the growth and development of Conran to attract great talent, build an open, empowering and supportive culture and deliver world class brand and design work.
Lee Hoddy
Executive Creative Director
Responsible for creative standards at Conran, Lee is passionate about solving problems through powerful, communication-driven design. He has held the role of design and creative director at many of the UK’s leading branding agencies including Brand Union, Bamber Forsyth and Fitch.

Lee has extensive experience across a broad range of design disciplines, enabling him to inspire and build a multi-disciplinary team of designers to maintain the highest levels of creativity across the agency. More recently Lee has led the creative team to deliver major rebranding programmes for clients such as Reckitt, Danone and Clario.

Lee believes that the best brands are created through a close working partnership with clients – fostering a collaborative approach that delivers authentic creative ideas that are strategically grounded, encourage participation and make a meaningful difference to people's lives.




Steven O'Neil
Associate Managing Partner, New York
Steven is responsible for delivering the highest standards of client services and for growing the CDG offer in North America. Steven has 20 years of experience working in both large and small agencies, specializing in branding and packaging.

Steven has experience across a wide range of categories and has worked on reenergizing iconic global brands as well as building foundations for cultural institutions and non-profits.

Steven’s passion lies in building lasting client relations and is inspired by the storytelling power of design to change behavior, connect with audiences and propel brands forward.
Ben Solomon
Creative Director, New York
Ben is the creative lead in the NYC office, helping shape and deliver work that elevates our clients' ambitions and purpose, through strategically aligned, and beautifully executed design.

Ben has extensive brand development and identity design experience across industries including health and wellness, finance, tech and manufacturing. Recently he led the corporate identity development for Viatris, continues to support the growth of Zoetis Diagnostics, and oversaw the identity design of several new Havas agencies.

Ben is inspired by the knowledge, experience, and vision that clients bring to the table when they come to Conran with their challenge. Through working together closely, we create meaningful brands that authentically connect, and hopefully transform, peoples’ lives for the better.
Ned Joyce
Senior Account Director
Ned is responsible for overseeing and managing projects for clients across a wide range of disciplines. With over 15 years’ experience both agency and client-side, he has worked with numerous global brands, including Pfizer, Novartis, Unilever, Pepsi, Heineken, Anheuser-Busch and Pernod Ricard.

Ned is inspired by the opportunity to distill a brand's essence, truth and point of difference, and deliver real commercial advantage for clients as a result.
Jonathan Finer
Strategy Director
Jonathan creates high-quality branding solutions that answer our clients’ brand-building challenges, and delivers strategic thinking on everything from brand strategy and naming to visual identity and packaging.

With extensive experience in healthcare branding, Jonathan joined Conran from Johnson & Johnson, where he led a brand strategy team serving all sectors of the global business, including consumer, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and corporate brand.

Jonathan is inspired by the patients and consumers that healthcare brands serve, and enjoys learning about their hopes, motivations and fears in order to create brand strategies with lasting impact.
James March
Category Director, Health
A healthcare brand, strategy and communications specialist, James is responsible for managing our Conran Design Group healthcare unit.

James has 20 years experience working client and agency side. His background is a mixture of brand, advertising, digital and PR, with a track record of growing health brands. James has extensive experience working with GSK, Sanofi, Pfizer, Novartis, AbbVie, J&J, ViiV, Gilead, AZ, Teva, BI, Unilever and Reckitt, amongst others.

James is inspired by the transformative role that great design can play in healthcare.
Ian Howlett
Business Director
Ian is responsible for both managing key client relationships within Conran Design Group, as well as defining digital strategy for all of our clients, drawing on his 20+ years of experience of managing and developing digital agencies.

Ian is a highly experienced brand and digital professional with experience across a broad range of sectors including financial services, publishing, media, charity and corporate. Ian leads our relationship with key clients such as Shell, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Tesco.

Ian is inspired by the opportunity to combine design and technology to deliver outstanding brand experiences for audiences that result in measurable change.
Christopher Penny
Financial Controller
Chris is the financial lead at Conran, managing financial planning, reporting and controls. He supports the company in achieving its financial objectives by overseeing commercial and operational initiatives.

Chris has over 15 years’ experience in advertising and design playing a key role in the setup and operation of Conran’s in-house and dedicated client teams.

Chris is a qualified accountant who likes working in the fast-moving world of design.
Brian Ponto
Design Director
Brian is a concept-driven strategic creative who leads visual identity design for clients at Conran’s New York office. A hands-on and collaborative partner, Brian inspires teams and uncovers the visual language that brings the client's objectives to life. He has helped shape the visual identities of consumer brands, professional services companies, and non-profit organisations, including Waters, New Balance, HP and Diageo.

How a story makes people feel is the visual designer’s most exciting challenge. Brian believes that effective design responds to this challenge – translating the visceral words into tangible design elements and giving form to a brand’s innate essence and emotion.

Latest work. 

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Havas Mango

Bringing a new entity to market, through a brand that attracts young and innovative talent.

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Viatris

Pushing convention with a stand-out brand and high impact activation.

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Design Nation

A rebrand to extend a pioneering student conference's reach to a larger and more diverse array of students.

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Clario

A name and brand to reflect a unique position in the cybersecurity market, fundamentally changing the market convention.

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Our global locations.

Our main office hub is in King’s Cross, London. We are part of the vibrant HKX community; all of Havas Group’s creative agencies together in one building, united by a shared creative philosophy to create meaningful brands and brand experiences.

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We opened our office in India in early 2021. Launching a new regional hub during global lockdowns was perhaps an unusual move but we couldn’t be happier with our progress in the region and the exciting opportunities that we are generating.

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Get in touch.

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