Talking to Ourselves: Recent Episodes
Omid Farhang
Created by Omid Farhang, award-winning Creative Director and Founder of Majority. Featuring the marketing industry’s most admired leaders sharing advice, revealing process and routines, telling a few war stories, hopefully uplifting a few cynics, and divulging secrets to a fulfilling career in marketing.
GUEST HOST: Anselmo Ramos, Co-Founder and Creative Chairman of GUT. Founded just four years ago, Gut has been an Ad Age A-List Agency 4 years in a row. The agency’s string of successes culminated at this year’s Cannes, where GUT won 35 Lions, becoming the #1 Independent Network of the Year, Latin America Network of the Year, and GUT Buenos Aires became both Independent Agency of the Year and Global Agency of the Year.
GUEST: Colleen DeCourcy, Chief Creative Officer of Snap as of 2022. Previously, Chief Creative Officer and Co-President of Wieden+Kennedy. Under Colleen’s leadership, Wieden+Kennedy experienced unprecedented growth and produced a number of award-winning campaigns, including Nike's 2019 “Dream Crazy” campaign. Colleen was honored as Adweek’s Creative Leader of the Decade for the 2010s. In 2022, Cannes Lions gave Colleen The Lion of St Mark, our industry’s honor.
Tim Nudd is Creativity editor at Ad Age, where he covers creativity in business, particularly the advertising space. Tim has spent his career spotlighting and elevating the work that moves our industry forward, making him one of the most influential marketing reporters of this century. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis, Tim joined Adweek in 1997 (initially as a copy editor), started writing for the magazine in 1999, and launched the AdFreak blog in 2004. He then left to pursue a freelance career, notably as a writer for People magazine and other Time Inc. titles, before returning to Adweek full time as creative editor in 2010. In 2018, Tim joined the Clio Awards, where he launched Muse by Clio, a daily site and newsletter about creativity, and Tagline, a podcast that goes deep into the making of great ad campaigns. He began in current role at Ad Age in January 2023.
Simon Cook is the CEO of Cannes Lions. Since joining Cannes Lions a decade and a half ago, Simon has served in almost every role within the organization, including Director of Awards, VP Creative Excellence and Managing Director. He is a powerful advocate for the marketing industry, and the gatekeeper of its most coveted award.
Greg Hahn is Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Mischief@No Fixed Address.
Prior to Mischief, Greg was CCO of BBDO New York for nearly 15 years, where he became one of the most awarded creatives in the world (Cannes Grand Prix, Emmys, all that), and helped BBDO become one of the most awarded companies in the world. Yet in Spring of 2020, Greg headlined a wave of high profile layoffs at BBDO in reaction to pandemic fears.
Just two short months later, Greg co-founded Mischief. Just two short years later, Mischief was named Agency of the Year by Adage, Agency of the Year by Campaign US, and the second most innovative agency by Fast Company. Marking one of the most all-time legendary starts by any creative agency ever.
Devika Bulchandani is Global President of Ogilvy, making her the first ever woman of color to run a global agency network. In 2022, Ogilvy won Global Network of the Year at Cannes. Prior to joining Ogilvy in 2021, Dev had a storied 26-year career at McCann, most recently as President of McCann North America. She led Mastercard’s Priceless campaign. In 2017, she helped bring to life the iconic Fearless Girl, making Mccann one of the most awarded agencies in the world. In 2019 she was recognized by Campaign Magazine as U.S. Advertising Agency Head of the Year. Dev is also a founding member of Times Up Advertising, where she has tirelessly championed equality for women in advertising.
Alex Lopez is President & Global Creative Chairman at McCann Worldgroup. Before that, he spent 23 years at Nike, where he became one of the most accomplished and awarded brand marketers of our generation. Pick any of your favorite Nike campaigns of the past two decades, and chances are you’ll find Alex’s fingerprints. Including on the now legendary Dream Crazy campaign starring Colin Kaepernick. Alex also led efforts to launch new sport categories like Nike Skateboarding, the brand’s launch into Digital Sport via the Fuel Band, and most recently Nike’s foray into long-form content with Waffle Iron Entertainment. Alex has won every major creative marketing award including an Emmy, seven Cannes Grand Prix Lions, the D&AD Black Pencil, One Show Brand Of The Year, and hundreds more. His work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.
Mike Cessario is the founder and CEO of Liquid Death, the fastest growing nonalcoholic beverage brand EVER. Mike is hacking the bottled water market, inspired by heavy metal and punk rock culture, and a motto to "murder your thirst." Using 100% recyclable aluminum packaging and zero plastic, Mike’s evil mission is to make health and sustainability fun and disruptive. Since the inception of his brand in 2018, Mike has raised $125 million in funding. Liquid Death products are currently sold in over 29,000 retail locations nationwide, including Whole Foods, 7-Eleven andTarget. From its branding to its marketing, the food and beverage category has never seen anything like Liquid Death.
Melissa Proctor is Chief Marketing Officer of the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena, and author of “Ball Girl to CMO.“ She was the subject of a 2021 ESPN profile titled: "The revolutionary path of Hawks CMO Melissa Proctor." She is a brand leader recognized for her creativity, work ethic, and empathy.
As CMO of an NBA franchise, Melissa's responsibilities include: day-to-day marketing, team branding, advertising and promotions, managing the internal video production and creative agency Hawks studio, fan experience and game-day production, community outreach and more.
Melissa started her career with Turner Broadcasting, serving in senior brand development and strategy positions for Turner Entertainment Networks, Cartoon Network, and Turner Media Group. In 2019, the Caribbean American Arts Foundation awarded Proctor with a Captains of Industry award. She is not only an senior executive but also an artist, mother, author and speaker.
Ricardo Viramontes is Chief Creative Officer at The Springhill Company, the brand and content studio founded by Lebron James and Maverick Carter in 2020. Ricardo’s 20-year path to his current role includes stops at BSSP, Wieden + Kennedy, CAA, B-Reel, Apple and Lyft. His work has earned him awards and accolades at every major advertising show including Cannes, where he won the Film Grand Prix and the first Branded Entertainment Grand Prix. In 2021 Ricardo was named to the Adweek Creative 100.
Patrick Milling Smith is co-founder and CEO of renowned production company SMUGGLER, named AdAge’s 2020 and shots’ 2021 Production Company of The Year. Alongside his partner Brian Carmody, Patrick has produced some of the most iconic campaigns of the past two decades and racked up every award known to man. Their roster of directors includes Kathryn Bigelow, Barry Jenkins and Jonah Hill.
Additionally, SMUGGLER has produced internationally acclaimed Broadway plays. Their credits include the eight-time Tony Award-winning musical, Once. Macbeth starring Daniel Craig, returning to Broadway this coming spring. And Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical, starring Michael C. Hall, named “The Best Super Bowl Ad of the Year” by Forbes.
SMUGGLER has produced Emmy Award-winning commercials for Sandy Hook Promise and SquareSpace, featuring John Malkovich.
SMUGGLER was recognized by Mayor Michael Bloomberg with the Made in New York Award for its creative and economic contributions to the city’s entertainment industry. Patrick also served on the board of immersive theatre company Punchdrunk International, best known for Sleep No More.
Mo Said is Founder and Chief Creative at Mojo Supermarket. In just the last two years, Mojo Supermarket has quickly gained notoriety by making headline-worthy campaigns for the likes of Adidas, Netflix, Truth, Savage X Fenty and Match.com. Mo has been named to the Forbes Under 30 list, Most Creative People in Business list and Adweek Creative 100. Mojo Supermarket was named AdAge A-List Agency To Watch in 2020, then Standout agency in 2021. Before Mojo Supermarket, Mo worked as a Creative at Droga5 and BBDO New York.
Stephanie Nadi Olson is the founder of We Are Rosie, an ever-expanding community of independent marketing experts, available on-demand to complement, backfill, or accelerate in-house team capabilities on both the brand and agency sides. Stephanie founded We are Rosie in Atlanta in 2018. She was named AdAge Visionary of the Year 2020. She was recognized by Adweek in the 2020 Creative 100. She was named World Changing Woman 2020 by Conscious Company. She was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year in 2019 by the Stevie Awards. And most recently, Adweek named her among the 35 Trailblazing Women redefining the future of media, marketing and tech.
NBA Champion. Hall of Famer. Backboard shatterer. Glass ceiling shatterer. Broadcaster. Entrepreneur. DJ. Spokesman. Rapper. Philanthropist. Ph.D. Wrestler. Other stuff.
Ryan Reynolds and George Dewey are the co-founders of Maximum Effort, the subversive marketing company racking up viral hits, lighting up pop culture, and disrupting the industry.
Ryan Reynolds is best known for co-writing, producing and starring in the Deadpool franchise. He is the owner of Mint Mobile, as well as Aviation Gin, which was acquired last year by Diageo for $660 million dollars.
George Dewey spent 16 years at McCann, working up the ranks from intern to ECD. After stints at SpaceX, 20th Century Fox and Annapurna Pictures, George joined Ryan in 2018 as President of Maximum Effort.
Some of the agency’s greatest hits include the ad campaign for Deadpool 2 that defied every convention of entertainment marketing. The longstanding Ryan Reynolds vs Hugh Jackman feud to cross promote Aviation Gin and Laughing Man coffee. Reprising the infamous Peloton actress to star in an Aviation promo. And “Match Made in Hell,” an ad for Match.com depicting the whirlwind romance of the devil and the female personification of “2020.”
Guy Shelmerdine is one of the most respected commercial directors of the past two decades, known for his inspiring focus on craft, performance, characters and concept with a comedic through line. He joined the production company SMUGGLER in 2003 shortly after winning Best New Director at Cannes. He has helmed award-winning spots for clients such as MINI Cooper, IKEA, Virgin Mobile, Coca-Cola, Honda, Range Rover, Skittles, Snickers, Volkswagen, Weetabix, and Barclays Bank. He’s a rare talent to find equal levels of success in the US and European markets. Recent notable work includes his campaign for UberEats featuring Patrick Stewart and Mark Hamill, the Star Wars vs. Star Trek face-off we’ve all been waiting for. Other fan favorites include his inventive work for Starburst “Vertical Salon”, considered a technical feat of production design. Guy also created the pioneering VR genre experience, Catatonic, the first ever live-action virtual reality horror film, which was lauded at SXSW, Cannes and Comic Con. He’s a storyteller and comedy maker who has created one of the most original and distinctive bodies of work in advertising.
Luke Sullivan is a professor of advertising at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). He is the author of "Hey Whipple Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads," considered one of the most iconic and valuable resources ever written on how to succeed in the ad industry.
Luke’s award winning career in the agency world spanned over 30 years, including stops at elite shops like Fallon and The Martin Agency. Today in addition to his work at SCAD, he is a public speaker who has presented talks around the world on building platforms not just campaigns, leveraging cultural tensions to improve creativity, and practical advice on how to get the most out of creative people.
Originally published in 1998, "Hey Whipple Squeeze This" is now in its 5th edition. For those interested in pursuing an advertising career, it is commonly thought of as a sacred text by both Amazon critics and industry leaders. It was voted #5 in AdAge’s list of best all time marketing books.
Additionally, Luke just released his second book, a memoir called “30 Rooms To Hide In,” which Luke describes as “The Shining, but funnier.”
Charisse Hughes is SVP & Global CMO of Kellogg's. She has spent her career at some of the most iconic global companies, including Sara Lee, Avon, and Estee Lauder, where she served as Senior Vice President of Global Marketing. Prior to joining Kellogg's, she was CMO at Pandora, the world’s largest jewelry brand. Charisse is a graduate of Howard University and Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.
Roger Camp is co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Camp+King, the agency he created in 2011 with partner Jamie King that combines brand storytelling with expertise in digital, social and content development, built on a simple philosophy to make brands quote Conversationworthy. Over the past decade, Camp+King has won the Ad Age Small Agency of the Year Award four times. They were selected as one of Outside Magazine’s "Best Places to Work in America" in 2018. In Fall of 2020, Camp+King was acquired by Havas.
Roger has had a storied career. In 1996, he joined Cliff Freeman as an art director. In 2000, he founded Camp/Arbues in San Francisco. The following year he was lured to Wieden+Kennedy to work as a creative director. In 2006, he became CCO at Publicis & Hal Riney.
In his 20+ years in the business, Roger has won every major creative award numerous times. He is one of the most-awarded art directors in the history of the D&AD Awards and was voted top art director in the country. He was also elected to the One Club’s Board of Directors, has had work featured on The Greatest Commercials of All Time list, and Adweek chose his Holiday Inn campaign as one of the Top Ten Funniest Commercials ever.
Omar Johnson served as CMO of Beats by Dre, VP Marketing at Apple, and account lead at Nike. Today he is the founder of Opus United, which most recently launched the content series "We The People" to fight for social change.
Famously as CMO of Beats, Omar helped grow a $20 million company into a $1.6 billion dollar category leader, becoming the #1 premium headphone in 21 countries.
In 2013, Adweek named Omar a “Brand Genius.” In 2016, Business Insider named him one of the “Most Innovative CMOs” for social media branding efforts including the “Straight Outta Somewhere” campaign, which reached over a billion people worldwide. He also led groundbreaking campaigns including #ShowYourColor, Powerbeats starring LeBron James, and The Pills featuring Chris Rock and Eminem. His use of viral marketing and influencers helped expand Beats into venues like the Olympics, Super Bowl, World Cup and NBA Finals.
Omar’s success as CMO culminated in 2014, when Beats was purchased by Apple for $3 billion.
Prior to Beats, Omar was at Nike, where he produced memorable TV commercials like “Rise,” starring LeBron James, and “The Most Valuable Puppets”. He also built the Nike+ sports music platform, establishing Nike’s first revenue-generating relationship with record labels.
Today in addition to running Opus United, he is an investor, keynote speaker and marketing coach.
In June of 2020, with the nation facing a reckoning on race, Omar personally took out a full page ad in The New York Times titled “My Open Letter to White Corporate America.”
Kristen Cavallo is CEO of The Martin Agency. She is the first female CEO in the company’s 56 year history. She was named AdAge’s 2019 Executive Of The Year.
Kristen spent over a decade at The Martin Agency in various strategy roles beginning in the late 90s, where she had a front row seat for some of the industry’s most iconic campaigns for Geico.
In 2014 she moved to Mullen Lowe, where she held positions as President, Chief Growth and Strategy Officer. During her tenure, Mullen was named to the AdAge A-List four times, as well as Creativity's Innovator of the Year and Fast Company's Most Innovative List.
In 2017, Kristen returned to The Martin Agency in the role of CEO, quickly taking key issues head on — eliminated the wage gap, championing diversity, and carrying on the creative legacy made famous by Martin through the decades, while producing double-digit growth with new clients like Buffalo Wild Wings, Sling TV, UPS, Old Navy and DoorDash.
Paul Hunter is a legendary music video director, commercial director, screenwriter, and Co-Founder of the acclaimed production company PRETTYBIRD.
Spanning over two decades, Paul has directed over 100 music videos, helping to define and redefine the genre. Some of his greatest works include The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” (MTV Best Rap Video), D’Angelo’s “How Does It Feel?" (MTV Best R&B Video) and Christina Aguilera’s “Lady Marmalade” (Video of the Year). He’s also done videos for Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Whitney Houston, Dr. Dre, TLC, Madonna, U2, Justin Timberlake, Will Smith, Gwen Stefani, Marilyn Manson, Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Lopez and LL Cool J. Recently his video for Pharrell’s “Freedom” was nominated for Best Music Video at the Grammy Awards.
In 2008, Paul co-founded PRETTYBIRD. The company has been responsible for some of the most high-profile and renowned work of the past decade, in the process earning Grammys, Emmys, D&AD Awards and Cannes Lions. Creativity named PRETTYBIRD its Production Company of the Year in 2015.
Some of Paul’s greatest hits as a commercial director including Nike "Freestyle," Burger King “Stuff of Legends," the Grammy Promo for "Straight Outta Compton" starring Dr Dre and Ice Cube, as well as global campaigns for Sony, Adidas, Apple, Audi and Microsoft.
Paul is an innovator, a groundbreaker, and an industry icon.
Jimmy Smith is the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Amusement Park, the branded content, marketing, and entertainment agency he founded in 2011.
Over a nearly four decade career starting in 1985 at Burrell Communications, Jimmy has worked alongside legends like Dan Wieden, David Lubars and Lee Clow.
During his time at Wieden, his creations for Nike include "Book of Dimes" starring Lebron James and Bernie Mac; the hip-hop basketball classic, "Nike Freestyle"; and the transformation of Vince Carter into “Dr. Funk.” He also wrote a documentary entitled "Battlegrounds" for Nike, which went on to be the highest rated show in the history of MTV 2.
In addition to winning all the big marketing awards like Cannes and One Show, Jimmy’s work has been recognized by the Smithsonian, and won Time Magazine’s “Ad of the Year.” As Group Creative Director on Gatorade, he received an Emmy Nomination for Gatorade Replay.
He's also credited with helping develop the storyline and characters for the video game NBA Street.
Heʼs written two books, including the 1997 release "Soul of the Game", which was featured at the Chicago Field Museum, The Basketball Hall of Fame, and the International Center of Photography in New York City.
In 2016, his newly formed record label Amusement Park music debuted its first single “Bigger Than Us,” featuring Portland Trailblazers point guard Damian Lillard aka Dame Dolla.
He has been named to Fast Company’s Creative 100. He is not only an industry icon, but a powerful voice in the fight for racial equality in advertising.
Anselmo Ramos is Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of GUT, the independent agency he built in 2018, with offices in Miami, São Paulo, and Buenos Aires.
Over his career, Anselmo has won 195 Cannes Lions, including 7 Grand Prix. He’s been named to AdAge’s “Creativity 50”, Business Insider’s “24 Most Creative People in Advertising,” and Adweek’s “100 Most Creative People.”
He first came to prominence as Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy & Mather São Paulo, where he create "Dove Real Beauty Sketches," a film that garnered over 200 million total views online, helping Ogilvy São Paulo win “2013 Agency of The Year” at Cannes.
Shortly thereafter, Anselmo co-founded DAVID, the Miami-based offshoot of Ogilvy, where he made some of the most famous work of the past decade for Burger King, including “Proud Whopper,” “Scariest BK,” "Burnings Stores," “Google Home of The Whopper,” and “Whopper Neutrality.” In 2017, DAVID Miami became Ad Age's Agency Innovator of The Year, and Adweek's Breakthrough Agency of The Year. Recently, DAVID and Burger King won the Penta Pencil at The One Show, awarded for a 5-year partnership and winning streak.
Today, GUT services clients including Tim Hortons, Dominos, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Popeyes, Stella Artois and Nestlé.
Keith Cartwright is the President and Chief Creative Officer of Cartwright, his newly formed agency backed by WPP.
Keith has been named to Adweek’s Top 50 Creatives in the business, and Campaign Magazine’s Top 10 Most Influential People in Advertising.
He started his career at Tracey Locke in Dallas, and Ogilvy New York.
As a Creative Director at TBWA Chiat Day, he helped Adidas win Advertiser of the year at Cannes.
As Global Creative Director at Wieden+Kennedy, he helped Jordan Brand push past $1 billion in sales for the first time.
He served as SVP Group Creative Director at the Martin Agency.
In 2011, Keith co-founded his own shop in San Francisco called Union Made Creative, where he did breakthrough work for Nike, GE and Lego.
In 2016 he helped launch Saturday Morning, a collective built on using creativity to shift negative perceptions in the African American community. There he developed “The Look,” the acclaimed film for P&G that took on the unconscious and conscious bias faced by black men in today.
At the end of last year, Keith departed 72&Sunny, where he served for two years as Executive Creative Director, winning an Emmy for Treatment Box, an experiential PSA that powerfully took on opioid addiction.
Keith is a member of the One Club Board of directors, The Ad Council Board, and is a Member of the Syracuse University Board of Directors.
Sir John Hegarty was the Founder and Worldwide Creative Director of BBH. He is one of the most legendary figures in advertising history.
John started his career in 1965 as a junior art director in London. By the late 60s he was a founding partner of Saatchi & Saatchi. In 1973 he co-founded TBWA London.
In 1982, John joined forces with partners John Bartle and Nigel Bogle to found BBH, which quickly became one of the most revered global agencies of the three plus decades to follow. BBH won every award and accolade imaginable, including being named the first ever “Agency of the Year” at Cannes in 1993, then again in 1994.
Throughout his career, John led paradigm shifting campaigns for clients like Levi’s, Audi, Lynx and Johnnie Walker.
Among his many legacies, he helped pioneer the importance of music in commercials, with BBH helping propel nine #1 hits over the years.
In 1994, he was awarded the D&AD President’s Award for outstanding achievement. In 2005, he was given the Clio Lifetime Achievement Award, and inducted into the One Club Hall of Fame. In 2008 he was inducted into the Art Director’s Club Hall of Fame. In 2011, he became the first ever recipient of The Lion of St. Mark award at Cannes for lifetime achievement.
In 2007, John received a knighthood for services to advertising.
Today he leads the Garage Soho, an investment firm and consultancy for early stage consumer brands.
Jae Goodman is founder and CEO of Observatory, named to Fast Company’s 2020 list of World’s Most Innovative Companies.
Observatory is an agency spun out of CAA Marketing, where Jae served as Co-Head and Chief Creative Officer since 2006. His Chipotle content “Back to the Start” and “The Scarecrow” combined to earn four Grand Prix victories at Cannes, going down among the all-time great branded entertainment of the past decade.
Jae has been named to Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, AdWeek's Creative 100, Ad Age’s Creativity 50, and PR Week’s Hot List. He serves on the Board of Effie Worldwide and is a two-time Cannes Lions Jury President.
Under Jae's leadership, Observatory has rapidly grown and expanded over the past 3 years, including global initiatives for Budweiser, Canada Goose and Coca Cola.
Prior to joining CAA, Jae worked at Publicis & Hal Riney in San Francisco, and Wieden+Kennedy in Portland.
Wes Wilcox is an analyst for NBA TV, and the former General Manager of the Atlanta Hawks.
He has over 15 years of experience inside NBA front offices, including the Cleveland Cavaliers and Charlotte Hornets. Promoted by Atlanta in 2015 at the age of 36, Wes was one of the youngest GMs in NBA history.
In addition to his on-air role at NBA TV, he is the co-host of "Deals and Dunks," "The Starting Lineup," and "No Look Pass" on SiriusXM.
Joaquin Molla is co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at The Community, which he created in 2000 with his brother, Jose Molla.
Today, The Community has offices around the world including Miami, London, New York and Buenos Aires. Their clients have included Verizon, Volkswagen, Apple, Converse, Disney and Google. They’ve made the AdAge “A List” three times, and been named "Multicultural Agency of the Year" by both AdAge and Adweek.
The Molla Brothers have been featured in AdWeek’s "Creative 100" list, and Business Insider’s "30 Most Creative People in Advertising."
Under Joaquin’s leadership, The Community has won some of the industry’s most prestigious awards, including a Grand Prix at Cannes in 2015, and a total of 10 Grand Prix in Spanish speaking advertising festivals, to go along with dozens of Lions, Clios and Pencils.
Joaquin’s greatest victory of all was helping swing Argentina’s presidential election for underdog candidate Mauricio Macri, who Joaquin then continued to serve as Communication Advisor.
Fernando Machado is Global Chief Marketing Officer of Burger King. In just six short years, Fernando has led some of the all-time most famous and awarded campaigns, including 'McWhopper', 'Whopper Neutrality', and most recently 'Whopper Detour', winner of three Grand Prix at Cannes in 2019, including Titanium.
Under Fernando’s leadership, Burger King has been honored as Client/Brand of the Year at every major award show.
Fernando is the first person ever to be awarded two separate times by Adweek as Grand Brand Genius. He’s been recognized by Business Insider as the #1 Most Innovative CMO, by the Art Directors Club as Marketer of the Year, by AdAge’s Top 50 Most Creative People in Business, and by both Forbes and Fast Company’s Top 100 Most Creative People in Business.
Prior to joining Burger King, Fernando worked his way up at Unilever for 18 years, starting as an intern, and culminating with the groundbreaking Dove 'Beauty Sketches', 2013 Titanium Grand Prix winner at Cannes.
Suzanne Powers is Global Chief Strategy Officer of McCann Worldgroup. She was just named by AdAge as the "2019 Chief Strategy Officer of the Year." Under her leadership, McCann was ranked the #1 Most Creatively Effective Global Network by the Effies in 2018 and 2019; they were named the Effies Agency of the Year in 2017 and 2018. Most recently, Suzanne appeared on the cover of AdWeek in recognition of McCann Worldgroup claiming "2019 Global Agency of the Year" for the first time in nearly two decades.
Suzanne joined McCann in 2013 from Crispin Porter+Bogusky, where she served as Global Strategy Officer. Before that, she led global brand strategy at TBWA for over a decade.
She’s been an industry leader throughout her career, including as a frequent keynote speaker and awards show judge. She is past Chairperson of the AAAA’s Planning Committee. In 2016, she was recognized by Advertising Women of New York with its “Changing the Game” award as one of the industry’s “Catalysts of Innovation.”
Scott Donaton is Head of Creative at Hulu. He assumes this new role after five years as Global Chief Creative and Content Officer at Digitas.
Scott began his career in journalism, becoming the editor and eventual publisher of Ad Age for over a decade. He then spent a year as the publisher of Entertainment Weekly. In 2005 he authored “Madison & Vine,” a book that prophesied the convergence of entertainment and advertising.
In 2009 he became Global Chief Content Officer at Interpublic Group’s UM, where he led a team of award-winning content strategists and producers around the globe for clients like Chrysler, Coca-Cola, J&J, BMW and Sony.
While at Digitas, he spearheaded the Digitas NewFront, a conference-style event that became a flagship of the annual pitches to digital ad buyers in New York.
He was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Achievement, and honored as one of the “21 Most Intriguing People in Media.” He’s twice served as President of the Branded Content & Entertainment jury at Cannes. His thought-leadership has been published in Fast Company, Adweek, Huffington Post and Business Insider.
PJ Pereira is Founder and Creative Chairman at Pereira & O'Dell. PJ is an advertising pioneer, and one of the world's most influential creatives. He was named the Top CCO in Adweek's "Creative 100." He was recognized by "Creativity 50," and 4A's "100 People Who Make Advertising Great."
In 2016, Pereira & O'Dell was behind the rare participation of a brand in the prestigious “Official Selection” of Sundance Film Festival with NETSCOUT and Werner Herzog's "Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World", named in Esquire Magazine’s Top 10 Best Non-Fiction Films of 2016.
His agency is credited with the creation of the first-ever social film, “The Inside Experience”, for Intel and Toshiba in 2011. Its follow-up, “The Beauty Inside”, was a triple Cannes Grand Prix winner, and the first branded content to win an Emmy against regular TV programming.
He’s served on 6 Cannes Lions juries, including two jury presidencies. He also serves on the boards of the AdCouncil and The One Club.
Beyond advertising, the Brazilian-born native is a best-selling novelist. In 2015, his book trilogy "Gods of Both Worlds" spent a month as the #1 novel in Brazil.
Scott Bell is Executive Creative Director at Droga5. Since joining the agency in 2009, Scott has become a core fixture of the agency's creative culture, helping Droga5 achieve world domination. He’s racked up every major industry award and accolade for campaigns including Newcastle’s “If We Made it,” the hysterical Super Bowl hijack that took home Adweek’s Top Ad of 2014. He invented the infamous "Pie Tops" sneakers for Pizza Hut. He turned IHOP into IHOB. He is currently helping Dos Equis "Keep It Interesante."
Geoff Cottrill is Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing at The Coca-Cola Company, leading integrated marketing strategy across creative content, media planning, entertainment, and more for a portfolio of billion dollar brands and emerging products under the Coca-Cola umbrella.
Geoff started his career at Procter & Gamble. He spent three years at Starbucks as VP of Product Development & Marketing for Starbucks Entertainment.
Geoff went on to become Chief Marketing Officer at Converse for nearly a decade, where he helped the Chuck Taylor All-Star become the #1 selling sneaker in the world.
This is Geoff’s second term at Coca-Cola; he first worked for the company from 1996 to 2005 as Group Director, Entertainment Marketing. He rejoins Coke after most recently serving as President of MullenLowe in Boston.
Ari Halper is Chief Creative Officer at FCB New York. Prior to that, Ari spent 13 years at Grey New York. Over the past two decades, Ari has made some of the most memorable and iconic work in our industry, culminating in his most recent and greatest career success: Burger King's Whopper Detour, Cannes winner of the Titanium Grand Prix, Mobile Grand Prix and Direct Grand Prix, along with a litany of gold, silver and bronze Lions, becoming a new creative beacon for agencies and brands around the world.
Spencer Kramer is CEO of J. Walter Thompson Atlanta. Spence has an incredible and storied career across both the client and agency side. He was a VP of Marketing, first at ESPN, then at Virgin America.
In 2007 he joined Wieden Kennedy Portland as Global Account Director of Nike, overseeing teams across seven offices on the brand’s legendary "Just Do It" campaign. Wieden then promoted him to run the global Coca-Cola business.
Spence left Wieden in 2014 to become Crispin Porter+Bogusky's first ever Global Managing Director. After spending a year there contributing to the winning pitch for the Infiniti account, he relocated to Atlanta, where he worked as a freelance consultant before JWT named him CEO in 2016.
Diego Scotti is Chief Marketing Officer at Verizon, where he oversees the global management of Verizon’s brand, including consumer insights, creative development, social responsibility, sponsorships, media and more.
Diego is a renowned marketer with over two decades of experience spanning very different industries, including 15 years at American Express as Head of Global Advertising and Brand Management, Executive Marketing Director at Vogue Magazine, and Chief Marketing Officer at J. Crew. In 2014 he joined Verizon, assuming the company’s newly created chief marketing role.
Diego was recognized as one of the “40 Under 40” by Ad Age in 2007. He’s been covered by publications including the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes and Fast Company. He serves on the Board of the ANA and Ad Council. He is a fierce advocate for diversity and inclusiveness in advertising, and a proud Argentinian.
Elizabeth Rutledge is Chief Marketing Officer at American Express, overseeing global media, communications, sponsorships, experiences, strategic planning and customer insights for one of the world's most respected and admired brands.
Over 30 years, Elizabeth has made her career at American Express, holding a wide array of responsibilities, including US Card Products and Benefits, Charge portfolio, Co-Brand products, Membership Rewards, and Global Network Marketing.
She is currently the Executive Sponsor for American Express’ Global Millennial Network and plays an active role in the company’s Women’s Interest Network. She also serves on the Boards of Directors for the YMCA of Greater New York and the Association of National Advertisers.
Elizabeth is a graduate of Princeton University and holds an MBA from NYU.
Rob Schwartz is CEO of TBWA\Chiat\Day New York. After ten years as CCO of Chiat LA and two more as Global Creative President, in 2015 Rob joined Chiat New York, where he made the uncommon transition from CCO to CEO. During that time, the New York office has enjoyed explosive growth, more than doubling in size. And helping TBWA earn Adweek’s Global Agency of the Year, and Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies.”
Throughout his career, Rob has spearheaded work for blue-chip brands including Nissan, McDonald's, Pepsi, and Visa. Along the way he has won nearly every advertising award including Grand Effies, Cannes Lions, and One Show Pencils.
Rob was recognized as ThinkLA's "Leader of the Year." And is considered one of Adweek's "25 Voices to Follow in Social Media." The story of his Chiat New York turnaround is a case study taught by Harvard Business School professors.
He hosts the Disruptor Series podcast, featuring some of culture’s most prominent content makers and titans of industry.
Alicia Tillman is Chief Marketing Officer of SAP. In 2018 she was named among the 50 Most Influential CMOs in the World by Forbes. She has been covered by U.S. News & World Report, CNBC, Forbes, CMO.com and AdWeek. She has become a highly sought-after public speaker at marketing conferences around the globe.
Prior to SAP, Alicia spent 11 years as a VP at American Express, working across public affairs, comms, marketing and business services.
She joined SAP in 2015, first as the CMO for SAP Ariba, the world's largest business-to-business marketplace. In 2017 she assumed her more wide-ranging role as CMO of SAP, the global leader in enterprise software, and the world’s third largest independent software manufacturer.
Cindy Gallop is a former advertising exec turned entrepreneur, public speaker and change-maker. In 1998 she founded the US branch of BBH, serving as Chairman and President for 7 years. In 2003 she was named Advertising Woman of the Year. Today she is the Founder and CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn, IfWeRanTheWorld, and AllTheSky Holdings. Business Insider named her one of their "15 Most Important Marketing Strategy Thinkers Today," number 33 on their list of "100 Most Influential Tech Women on Twitter," and number one on their list of "Top 30 People In Advertising To Follow On Twitter." Campaign named her number one on their list of "Top 10 Trailblazers." In 2015 she was Jury President at Cannes for the inaugural Glass Lion Awards, celebrating advertising that shatters gender stereotypes. She has been covered by publications including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fast Company, TechCrunch, TeenVogue, and The Guardian. She is a leading voice for equal rights and equal opportunity in the ad industry.
David Droga is Founder and Creative Chairman of Droga5, one of the most successful and influential agencies of the past decade.
To date, Droga is the most awarded creative of all time at Cannes, with over 70 Lions, and six Grand Prix wins. He is the youngest person ever inducted into the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame. In 2017, he received the Cannes Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lion of St. Mark.
At 18, Droga began his career in the mailroom of Grey in Sydney. By 22, he was partner and ECD at OMON, winning Australian Agency of the Year twice. By age 29, he was ECD of Saatchi & Saatchi London, earning Agency of the Year honors from Cannes, Ad Age and Adweek. In 2003, he moved to New York City to become the first-ever Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of the Publicis Network.
In 2006, David launched Droga5. Just over a decade later for clients including Under Armour, Chase Bank, The New York Times, Cover Girl, Prudential and Hennessy, Droga5 has been named Agency of the Year multiple times by every major publication and show in the world.
Justin Gignac is co-founder of Working Not Working, the preeminent networking site where freelance creatives and companies go to connect. It has become an essential and transformative tool for thousands in the freelance community. Hundreds of companies now use Working Not Working to source talent, including Apple, Google, Droga5, Wieden+Kennedy, Airbnb, Kickstarter, IDEO, The New York Times, and Momentum.
Prior to starting Working Not Working, Justin was an award-winning Art Director best known for helping create the legendary "Elf Yourself," unleashing the world's elf fetish, with over 1.5 billion elves created since 2006. He also gained notoriety for his various art projects, including "NYC Garbage." He's been named to the Creativity 50, and featured in publications including AdAge, Time and Fast Company.
Jeff Kling was Chief Creative Officer of Fallon until May of 2018, when he resigned his post. Jeff joined Fallon in 2012, where he led successful campaigns like "Get Your Taxes Won" for H&R Block starring John Hamm, and Arby's "We Have The Meats."
Prior to Fallon, Jeff was ECD at Euro RSCG (now Havas), where he created the now mythic "Most Interesting Man Alive" campaign for Dos Equis.
From 1996 to 2003 Jeff worked at Wieden+Kennedy, where he authored the famed Miller High Life campaign shot by Errol Morris.
He later returned to Wieden as ECD of Amsterdam, where he helped create Nike "Write the Future."
Jeff has received every major industry award. He was named "Copywriter of the Year" three times by the AICP. Last year, Forbes featured him in a piece titled "14 Creative Directors You Should Have on Your Speed Dial."
John Mescall is Global ECD at McCann Worldgroup, and President of the McCann Worldgroup Creative Leadership Council. In this dual role, John provides creative leadership across the agency's global brands, while also partnering closely with the network’s creative and strategic leads around the world.
Prior to that, John was Chief Creative Officer of McCann Australia, leading McCann Melbourne to become the world’s most awarded agency in 2013, thanks in large part to his legendary brainchild, "Dumb Ways To Die." It won 5 Grand Prix awards and 23 Lions, making it the most successful campaign in the history of Cannes, and one of the most famous marketing efforts of the 21st century. To date, the video has been viewing 170 million times on YouTube.
Since his move to Global ECD in 2014, John has helped lead McCann Worldgroup’s creative resurgence, with honors including Gunn Report Agency of the Year, D&AD Agency of the Year, and Network of the Year accolades from the One Club, ANDYs, Effies and more.
He’s been named to the Creativity 50. And Business Insider ranked him the 8th most creative person in all of advertising.
Greg Hahn is Chief Creative Officer of BBDO New York. Over the past year, Greg has helped lead BBDO to one of its most successful years ever, including a clean sweep of 'Network of the Year' honors across Cannes, D&AD, ADC and One Show.
Greg joined BBDO as an ECD in 2005 and became CCO in 2013, leading some of the industry’s most ground-breaking work for brands like HBO, FedEx and AT&T.
He did the award winning “HBO Voyeur,” which, was selected by the One Club as one of the “Best of the Digital Decade.” He also helmed the wildly successful “HBO Imagine” project, and the industry-changing "BMW Films."
Prior to joining BBDO, Greg worked at Fallon Minneapolis, where he first connected with David Lubars to create many famous works, including the "Buddy Lee" campaign for Lee Jeans.
Recently, Greg was named one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business,” by Fast Company, and he currently serves on the Creative Advisory Board for Snapchat.
Alex Bogusky is Co-Founder and Chief Creative Engineer of Crispin Porter+Bogusky.
Alex lead the legendary ascension of CP+B to become the world's most famous and awarded agency over more than a decade, and the first ever to win the Cannes Grand Prix in all five categories. The agency grew to over a thousand employees, with offices in Miami, Boulder, Los Angeles, London and Sweden, and with annual billings over $1 billion.
Alex has been called the Steve Jobs of advertising. In 2008, he was inducted into the Art Director's Club Hall of Fame. In 2010, he received the rare honor of being named "Creative Director of the Decade" by Adweek.
It was later that same year that Alex left CP+B, shifting his focus to consumer advocacy and social initiatives, while investing in early stage start-ups.
Then, in August of 2018, some eight years after he departed CP+B, Alex shocked the advertising world by announcing his return.
Chris Beresford-Hill is Chief Creative Officer of TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, whose clients include Adidas, Nissan and Pepsi.
Prior to joining TBWA in 2017, Chris served as ECD of BBDO, where he led some of the agency’s most lauded work in recent years, for clients including Guinness, HBO, FedEx and Foot Locker. His early career was spent at Saatchi New York, Goodby San Francisco, and Modernista Boston.
Chris has been named to AdAge's “40 under 40,” and Adweek’s “Creative 100." His work has received all the industry’s top honors for creativity and effectiveness, in addition to TED’s Ads Worth Spreading, and TIME magazine’s best Super Bowl ad of the decade.
Susan Hoffman is Co-Chief Creative Officer of Wieden Kennedy. Susan joined W+K in the mid-eighties as employee number eight. Thirty years later, she has helped shape the most respected and revered creative agency in the industry, and in turn, the very industry itself. Aside from creative directing some of the most famous work of all time for clients like Nike, Old Spice, Chrysler and Miller High Life, Susan also opened the Wieden offices in Amsterdam and London, serving both as ECD. Along the way she’s introduced the world to directors like David Fincher and Michael Bay, and helped launch the careers of many of the most successful creative directors in the industry today. Her decades of rarified creative excellence culminated in 2017 with her induction into the One Club Hall of Fame.
Mike Byrne is Founding Partner and Global Chief Creative Officer of Anomaly, whose clients include Nike, Coca Cola, Beats by Dre and Anheuser-Busch. Under Mike's leadership, Anomaly has become a revered creative powerhouse, winning every major award including AdAge Agency of the Year, and Fast Company's Most Innovative.
Prior to Anomaly, Mike built his career at Wieden+Kennedy, where he served as the Co-Creative Chief on Nike. During his tenure, W+K amassed more awards than any other agency in America, including two Agency of the Year honors. Mike has made some of the most famous and impactful work in the history of Nike advertising, including Lance Armstrong's "Yellow Band" campaign that helped raise over $50 million for the LiveStrong charity, and the Emmy-winning film, "Nike Tag."
John Norman is Partner and Chief Creative Officer and Translation, working with brands including the NBA, Nike, Google, Apple, Jeep and State Farm.
Prior to joining Translation in 2014, John held positions as CCO of TBWA\Chiat\Day LA, and CCO of The Martin Agency. He also spent 8 years as ECD at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, where he led such legendary work as Coca Cola “Happiness Factory”, and Nike “Write the Future.”
Part of his early career was spent as Design Director for Benetton in Italy, and as a graphic designer for Nike, where he designed the original and now iconic logo for the Air Huarache.
Tiffany Rolfe is a partner and the Chief Creative Officer at Co:Collective, a strategy and innovation company. Co: specializes in inventing and re-inventing products, businesses and brands, for clients including Google, Infiniti, GE and NewsCorp.
Tiffany also serves as co-Managing partner of The Pub, a new content strategy and publishing agency that helps brands and native creators collaborate on content in meaningful ways. The Pub has worked with some of today’s most interesting content creators such as Michelle Phan, Bethany Mota, Hank Green, Epic Rap Battles, and Dude Perfect.
Prior to Co: she was Executive Creative Director at Crispin Porter+Bogusky. There Tiffany lead and created business-changing work for clients such as MINI Cooper, Truth, VW, Ikea, Burger King, Microsoft and Old Navy.
Tiffany’s work has been featured on the cover of the New York Times, in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Advertising Age, Adweek, and more. She has judged and received top awards at every major creative and effectiveness competition in the industry, including Best of show at One Show, a Grand Clio, and the Grand Prix and Titanium Lion at Cannes. Tiffany was featured in Adweek’s “Young Ones,” and she was named one of Advertising Age’s “Women to Watch.” She was a founder of the women’s leadership group, Straight Up, and is on the campaign review committee for the Ad Council.
Jaime Robinson is Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Joan, a rapidly growing start-up shop that she created with partner Lisa Clunie in 2016.
Prior to start-up life, Jaime served as co-Executive Creative Director of Wieden+Kennedy New York, helping shape work for clients like Delta Air Lines, Southern Comfort and Sprite.
During her days in San Francisco at Pereira & O'Dell, Jaime did acclaimed creative campaigns for LEGO, Mattel and Airbnb, and she led Intel's "The Beauty Inside", which won an Entertainment Emmy, along with three Grand Prixs at Cannes.
Jaime's approach to creativity and marketing earned her a spot on Fast Company's "100 Most Creative People in Business" and Ad Age's "40 Under 40". In 2014, she served as Jury President for Mobile at Cannes, and she currently serves on the AdCouncil.
Ari Weiss is Chief Creative Officer of DDB North America, where he has led a creative resurgence, including 2 gold Andys and 13 D&AD Pencils, spurring DDB's return to the AdAge A-List for the first time in 20 years.
Prior to DDB, Ari spent 5 years at BBH, where he took the helm as Chief Creative Officer at the age of just 33, leading campaigns for Axe, Playstation and Netflix, and winning numerous awards including Integrated Grand Prix at Cannes.
Ari has worked at Cliff Freeman, BBDO, W+K, Goodby and 180LA. He's been named to AdAge's 40 Under 40, and the 4A's List of 100 People Who Make Advertising Great.
Gerry Graf is founder and CCO of Barton F Graf.
Over a 25+ year career spanning BBDO, Goodby, Chiat NY and Saatchi, there are few more decorated creative minds in our industry than Gerry. AdAge named three of his commercials to their list of the 20 Best Super Bowl Ads of All Time. In 2007, he was named the most awarded creative director in the world. In 2014 he appeared on Fast Company’s list of the '100 Most Creative People in Business.' Business Insider named him 'The Most Creative Man in Advertising.' Newsweek called him one of 'The New Don Drapers.'
In 2010 Gerry launched his own agency, Barton F Graf, and it has been on the A-List every year since. Today BFG is the fastest growing independent agency in America.
Hank Perlman is an acclaimed commercial director, and co-founder of the highly awarded production company Hungry Man. Hank is a trusted partner to some of the best creative agencies in the world, directing campaigns for Fedex, Amazon, AT&T, State Farm, Toyota, and American Express.
Prior to directing, Hank was a copywriter at Wieden+Kennedy, where he created the fabled ESPN “This is SportsCenter” campaign.
Together with partner Bryan Buckley in 1997, Hank launched Hungry Man New York. Within just a few years, the company became host to some of the world’s best directors, expanding to LA, London, and Rio. Today Hungry Man is one of the truly elite go-to production shops for everything from smart witty short form content to epic Super Bowl spots.
Chloe Gottlieb is Chief Creative Officer of R/GA, where she guides hundreds of multidisciplinary teams in the creation of breakthrough products, services, and communications for global brands such as Nike and Samsung. Chloe was named one of the “Most Creative People in Advertising” by Business Insider in 2014 and 2015. Her work for Nike, Nokia, Verizon, Alvio, and the Ad Council has garnered the industry’s most esteemed awards at top competitions including the Cannes Lions, One Show Interactive, the CLIOs, the ADC Annual Awards, and the ANDYs. Chloe has been named a New York Times Digital Scholar and published an article on data-driven motivation in Business Week.
Rob Reilly is Global Creative Chairman of McCann Worldgroup. Under Rob’s leadership, McCann has had a creative resurgence, earning “Agency of the Year” and “Network of the Year” honors at most every major award show. McCann enjoyed the most awarded campaign globally both in 2017 and 2016, and the agency’s creative work has been among the most celebrated both in the industry and in the culture at large, including State Street Global Advisors’ “Fearless Girl,” and Lockheed Martin’s “Field Trip to Mars.”
In 2016 Rob was named to Ad Age’s “50 Most Creative People of the Year.”
He joined McCann Worldgroup in 2014 from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, where he served as Partner/Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, helping the agency become Ad Age’s "Agency of the Decade" in the '00s.
Rob is a member of The One Club Board, the Facebook Council, and co-President of the Ad Council Review Committee.
David Lubars is Chairman/Chief Creative Officer of BBDO. During his tenure, BBDO has been named Agency of the Year by various industry publications more than 15 times. Most recently, David was inducted into The One Club Creative Hall of Fame, and was honored with a Clio Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also named one of the top ten creative directors of all time by Forbes. David has personally won over 150 One Show pencils and 160 Cannes Lions. His BMW Films was the first ever Titanium winner at Cannes, and is part of the permanent collection at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
Susan Credle is Global Chief Creative Officer of FCB, where she took the helm in 2015.
Before that, Susan spent over two decades at BBDO, working on some of the biggest brands in the world, including FedEx, Pepsi, Visa, and perhaps her claim to fame, humanizing the iconic M&M’S characters.
In 2009 Susan joined Leo Burnett USA, where she became one of the first ever female CCOs of a large-scale network agency.
She’s been one of Advertising Age’s 100 Most Influential Women in Advertising, and one of Business Insider’s Most Creative Women in Advertising.
Andrew Keller is Global Creative Director of Facebook’s Creative Shop -- a team of creative strategists within Facebook and Instagram that partner with brands, businesses and agencies. Before that, Andrew spent his career at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, where he was a driving force in reinventing the advertising industry for nearly two decades, winning every major accolade for brands including Burger King, Mini, Truth, Domino’s and Volkswagen, creating legendary work that infiltrated pop culture, and culminated in CP+B being crowned Agency of the Decade.
Nick Law is Vice Chairman, Global Chief Creative Officer at R/GA. During Nick's tenure, R/GA has become one of the most awarded agencies in the world, winning every major creative accolade, including four Cannes Lion Grand Prix awards, a D&AD Black Pencil, and a GRANDY; and Adweek named R/GA Digital Agency of the Decade and Nike+ as Campaign of the Decade. Nick has been on every major award show jury, including being named Jury President for the Cannes Innovation Lions, and has twice been named to the Creativity 50, a list of the world’s most influential creative people.