Michael Canning and Kieran Antill
It’s like “Flight of the Conchords.” Except these two guys are Australians, not Kiwis. And they aren’t starving musicians, even if they have dipped their toe in the music video-making waters. Okay, it’s not like Flight of the Conchords at all. But Michael Canning and Kieran Antill are a creative couple of guys living in NYC. They just happen to be Executive Creative Directors at Leo Burnett New York, a new start-up-style branch of the network that was launched in the Big Apple in 2011.
Damon Stapleton
I first met Damon at TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris in South Africa. Having just arrived in Johannesburg to launch The Saturn Return Project, unsure of my surroundings and jetlagged sideways, I did not have any guard up when a guy approached me and said, “Try this,” handing me a piece of ostrich biltong (akin to jerky). For some reason, I instantly trusted him and happily ate the biltong (and liked it!).
Ralph Watson
In 2010, San Fran super-shop Goodby, Silverstein & Partners opened up a Detroit office to better serve General Motors. As more work shifted to that office, they needed to find a creative director with the talent — and toughness — to help turn the fortunes of the car company around.
Last year, they chose Ralph Watson.
Marlena Peleo-Lazar
Yes, we know, clients are evil, or at least that’s what we keep telling ourselves. But for those of us who don’t believe that, we know there are a number of brands and businesses with a creative vision that rival that of our favourite boutique agencies.
Such is the case with international fast food giant McDonald’s, as well as with the company’s Chief Creative Officer, Marlena Peleo-Lazar.
Patrick O’Neill
Not everyone was born with the kind of passion for the industry that TBWA\CHIAT\DAY Executive Creative Director Patrick O’Neill was born with. Obsessed with advertising since childhood, Patrick already had a job before he even graduated from the Art Center College of Design, and has kept the upward trajectory ever since.
Graham Fink
Graham Fink, Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy & Mather China, has one of the most interesting careers in the business and he’s just getting started in Asia. Recruited to Ogilvy in early 2011, Graham has tackled the challenge of a new market with gusto, seeking and celebrating young local talent, adding a blend of expat talent into the mix and learning what works best for Chinese clients and consumers. Will his creative mission in China be successful?
Renata Florio
Renata Florio is breaking multiple molds: the first being a departure from the Brazilian advertising industry for America and the second, joining U.S. Hispanic shop Wing as a its first female CCO. Renata is a successful Brazilian creative superstar, having won not one, but eight Gold Lions, as well as One Show awards over her 20-year career that has spanned top shops such as AlmapBBDO, F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, DM9DDB, Publicis and Peralta StrawberryFrog.
Colin Jeffery
Shuffling Party Rock hamsters? Yeah, Colin Jeffery is behind that. But both Colin and David&Goliath, where he is Executive Creative Director and Managing Partner, are much bigger than just the hamsters. Bigger than the cultural movement they instigated, and the turbo-jet speed at which they’ve propelled Kia into the forefront of the car market. Colin Jeffery is a worldly creative leader.
Paul Venables
Never underestimate the potential of the up-and-comer answering the telephones at a small agency in New York City. Who knows, they may go on to become a talented copywriter or to co-lead the creative department at Goodby during its heyday. They might even have the entrepreneurial drive to launch their own agency in San Francisco, one that is motivated by the intention to do right by its staff and its clients. Clients like Microsoft and Audi, Intel and Barclays, HBO and PG&E.
