Talking to Ourselves

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, Hond...

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...

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 M...

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 on...

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...

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 p...

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 Vi...

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 Jam...

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 promin...

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...

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 qu...

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 ent...

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 Li...

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...

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...

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 recognitio...

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 e...

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 Selec...

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...

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 &a...

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 o...

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 th...

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 Mana...

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,...

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 Innov...