Creative 100 2023: Rising Agency Talents Breaking Through

In some ways, it has never been more difficult to break into the industry or to find success. Yet this group of honorees—part of Adweek’s 2023 Creative 100—are carving their own paths and making the kind of work that cements itself in culture. Watch out for this creative talent, for they have the potential to shape the future. Jason Burke and Erin Evon Associate creative directors, Saatchi & Saatchi New York Hands on: Evon and Burke worked on a campaign for Goldfish, which took advantage of the notion that people scoop up Goldfish by the handful. To emphasize this concept, the team recruited a famous pair of hands—those of Boban Marjanovic, the 7’4’’ basketball player who has some of the biggest hands in the NBA—for a campaign featuring a dish replica of them. "It's a work of art—it is actually displayed on my coffee table," said Burke. "Our goal is always try to make something more than 'just an ad.' It's about the hand campaign." Humble beginnings: Evon started as a creative assistant at Saatchi & Saatchi, engaged in not-so-glamorous tasks like filling out timesheets and expenses for the higher-ups. “They were kind enough to give me creative briefs so I would continue to grow. Within six months, they helped me move from creative assistant to a junior art director,” Evon said. “I’ve learned that every experience you have in your career is worth it.” Personal mantra: Evon channels a quote she attributed to Rethink CCO Daniel Lobatón, her former Saatchi colleague: "Can it be dumber?"—Catherine Perloff Mary Buzbee and Lauren Meadows Senior copywriter and senior art director, Barkley, founders, The Workshop Making legal insurance sexy: At their Kansas City, Mo., agency Barkley, Buzbee and Meadows pitched ARAG Legal Insurance on a national brand campaign, something the company had never done before and a rarity for the legal insurance space. The campaign, which featured actress Kathy Najimy as a fortune teller predicting the negative outcomes of not having legal insurance, surpassed all goals. Opening doors: Coming from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, Buzbee and Meadows—who met at the University of Alabama—are passionate about fighting classism in the advertising industry. They started The Workshop, a free and fully remote, four-month creative mentorship program that gives participants lessons in the basics of advertising, access to a mentor and practice with a recruiter. Students have gone on to work at agencies like BBDO New York and Dentsu. Beyond billboards: Growing up, “our only exposures to advertising were personal injury lawyer billboards on the side of the interstate and Super Bowl commercials,” the duo said. “Once we found out that we could get paid to be creative, we were happier than two worms on a dirt farm.” —Catherine Perloff Christopher Chance and Kelechi Mpamaugo Copywriter and art director, Johannes Leonardo Individually rapped cheese: Both Mpamaugo and Chance loved the "Fancy Cheese Takedown" campaign that they made for Kraft last fall at Johannes Leonardo. “It really showed me not only can I come up with a full concept, but that my weird sense of humor has a home in advertising,” Chance said. The animated digital spot passed their clients at Kraft the mic for a cheese-themed rap battle. “We inserted Kraft into a niche subculture in a way that was fun, authentic and satisfied the client's desires,” Mpamaugo added. Addressing the diversity dilemma: Mpamaugo sees diversity and inclusion as two of the industry’s biggest problems, but ones that have pushed her to exhaustion. “I gave up,” she said. “I didn’t sign up to be an activist.” Chance, meanwhile, sees himself as part of the solution: “I’m trying to address it by diversifying it!” Advice to aspiring creatives: “Learn as much as possible about your prospective roles before entering them,” Mpamaugo said. “It’s a tricky industry to navigate as a creative, but it’s really fitting for certain people.” Once you do make it, however, Chance said don’t let imposter syndrome take over: “Trust your gut: You’re here for a reason. It isn’t a fluke!” —Jason Notte André De Castro and Eliza Florendo Creative director and associate creative director, social, Gale Milking it: Florendo and De Castro are the pair behind national milk processor organization MilkPep’s “Wood Milk” campaign with Aubrey Plaza, which ribbed dairy milk’s plant-based competitors. “It was the funniest set I have been to in my career,” De Castro said. “We were able to create real cultural tension around milk and alt-milks with funny and entertaining creative.” "A different perspective": De Castro came to New York after working in Brazil as a graphic designer, while Florendo moved from the Philippines to the U.S. at age 10. “I was that kid in school embarrassed to be bringing hotdogs or spam with rice to lunch and told to speak more English in class,” Florendo said. “All those things made me understand that every person has a different story and a different perspective.” Passion projects: De Castro’s series of monoprint serigraphs depicting youth protests, called “Project Movements,” have been exhibited all over the world. Florendo published a zine called “Not All Aliens” about her family’s move to the U.S. and threw a launch party, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Legal Aid Society in New York, to help fund fees related to immigration applications. “I was someone who felt lost and alone when I was undocumented,” Florendo said. “I wanted to make the process for folks applying, even if it was just one person, easier and less hectic.” —Catherine PerloffCorrection: An earlier version of this article attributed the lunch quote to André De Castro. The quote was from Eliza Florendo. Hemal Dhanjee and Steve Ierullo Associate creative directors, Courage "Just getting started": Ten years ago, they met in ad school and hit it off. Now, they’re the creative duo at Courage making a splash despite only having been at the agency for a year. “It feels like we’re just getting started,” Dhanjee and Ierullo said. “Every day is an opportunity to do something famous in culture.”Instigating a chicken feud: When McDonald’s launched the Chicken Big Mac in Canada, Dhanjee and Ierullo decided to antagonize the brand with a counter-campaign for KFC “by replacing its chicken patties with two KFC chicken filets,” they said. The brands went toe-to-toe on Twitter, causing a friendly uproar. Then, the two capitalized on the media attention and worked with KFC to add the reworked meal to the brand’s secret menu.Jar opener: Both Dhanjee and Ierullo are children of immigrants and said the Nescafé jar was a “fixture” in their childhood homes. Their understanding of the brand led to a heartening campaign that simultaneously endorsed sustainability. “To capture the reusability of the Nescafé jar, we traveled around the world to film how people reuse their jars,” they said. “The spot peers into the homes of people who have reused their jars in unique and interesting ways—from pasta, dog treats, craft supplies and more,” they said. —Olivia Morley Julian Gamboa-Ramos Senior social media director, Maximum Effort Maximum flexibility: “While my work mainly covers social for the Maximum Effort brand and its clients, my day-to-day is very up in the air. One day, it could include social strategy and execution. By noon, my day could pivot to write, pitch a full-on script and ultimately star in the spot," says Gamboa-Ramos, who joined Ryan Reynolds' Maximum Effort agency in 2021, after previously working as Adweek's senior social media and community manager. Staying sane in social: “There’s a lot of chaos in the social media landscape. Important platforms might disappear tomorrow. Video may or may not be prioritized the next day. With everyone extremely online, it’s more difficult to log off each day. It’s the control on your calendar that can make a difference on how you stay on top of trends for work, browse for personal joy and/or doomscroll.” All Ryan, all the time: “Aside from client social strategies executions, part of my role’s core requirement is to recall scenes from any Ryan Reynolds film and re-contextualize it for trends on the rise. It’s given us Ryan on a motorcycle to Jack Black’s Peaches, a CapCut [video-editing site] fancam to K-Pop group NewJeans’ OMG and a much more fun social presence for the Maximum Effort brand.” —Luz Corona Xander Hart and Edward Usher Creatives, adam&eveDDB Career path: After meeting on singlecreatives.com, Usher and Hart got their first job in 2016 at the BBC’s in-house agency, BBC Creative, where they made the D&AD Yellow Pencil winner “The Tapestry” for the 2018 World Cup and the 2018 film “Wonderland.” In 2019, they joined adam&eveDDB. Their standout work at one of the U.K.’s largest agencies has included two PlayStation ads, the International Paralympic Committee’s Emmy-nominated #WeThe15 campaign and a film for the V&A Museum that was added to its permanent collection. The biggest job in British advertising: The pair got their shot at one of the most coveted briefs in U.K. advertising with last year’s Christmas campaign for retailer John Lewis & Partners. “The Beginner” shone a light on the care system by telling the heartwarming story of a dad preparing to meet his new foster daughter. “We had multiple messages of gratitude from people who’ve experienced care for portraying the issue in the way that we did,” the duo said. Advice to aspiring creatives: “Never give up on a brief—it can always turn into something. And try to remember that this job should be fun.” —Brittaney Kiefer Monica Herman Vice president, group creative director, Giant Spoon Initiating Plan C: Advertising is the third act of Herman’s career. When she first moved to New York, she wanted to own an art gallery and spent about two years as a gallery coordinator. She eventually elbowed her way into the Parsons School of Design—without a design portfolio—before spending three years as an architectural lighting designer. She then moved to experiential marketing and worked her way up to group creative director at Vice Media Group. “I’ve done so many different things that Giant Spoon’s CCO, Ian Grody, thinks I’m secretly 1,000 years old,” Herman said. “I’m just dogmatic about pursuing creative adventure, wherever it may lead.” Back that brand up: Before Lizzo’s Special Tour kicked off, shapewear company Yitty asked Giant Spoon for ideas that would appeal to fans. “I pitched and led a campaign to reward the best seats in the house (butts) with the best seats in the house (front-row) tickets,” Herman said. Outside each concert venue, Giant Spoon placed giant, Yitty-clad posteriors stamped with a QR code, where fans could win products, upgraded tickets and a chance to hang with Lizzo herself. Advice to aspiring creatives: “Hone your hard and soft skills in equal measure so you can answer both the how and the why. Be communicative and game. Express gratitude whenever you have the opportunity. That’s three pieces of advice. You’re welcome.” —Jason Notte Trevor Joplin and Eleanor Rask Associate creative directors, Mischief @ No Fixed Address Swiping right: The pair was behind Tinder’s first global campaign, “It Starts with a Swipe,” which showed how Tinder can be an engine for love (and not just hookups), with a variety of digital and out-of-home ads depicting diverse daters getting serious. Playing with words: Another recent campaign from Rask and Joplin directed people to a website called “moistpanties.com,” via billboards and TikTok videos. When users go to the link, they’re greeted by a 404 error—the joke being that, when you buy products from its client Thinx, which makes underwear for menstruation, uncomfortable panties are not a problem. Sew what: “I've been into film photography for quite some time, but more recently I've been taking sewing classes to learn how to make my own clothes,” Rask said. “It's important to have creative outlets that don't involve staring at a screen.” —Catherine Perloff Chrystel Jung Creative director, BETC Paris Career path: Jung has been at BETC Paris for nearly a decade, spending time as an art director and copywriter before her recent promotion to creative director. She began her advertising career at JWT Paris. Coming up short: Throughout her career, Jung has worked with clients such as BMW, Reporters Without Borders and Canal+, from whom she was copywriter and creative director on the short film, Papa. The spot, which contained a dark comedic twist to promote the platform’s partnership with the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, has won awards at D&AD and the French Art Directors Club. “We wanted to encourage people to watch short films because just as long films, they also can provide big emotions. I love dark humor, and I really wanted to write something in that sense,” Jung said. Advice for aspiring creatives: “Don’t be lazy, keep on watching films, reading books, going to exhibitions, walking in the street, observing people while having a coffee. Do not stay in front of your laptop. Fresh ideas shouldn’t come from Google, but from your imagination.” —Stephen Lepitak Lena Laque-Almond Art director, Virtue Worldwide A historic point of pride: Laque-Almond served as a lead art director for Planned Parenthood’s response to last summer's overturning of Roe v. Wade. The project was helmed by women and people of color and became “possibly the most important work” Laque-Almond had ever done, she said. “The metaphor was simple: We the disenfranchised, the previously unheard, are a great storm that will come together and surpass this moment in time.” Maintaining one’s agency: Virtue’s breadth and diversity of clients keep Laque-Almond’s schedule varied. “The main thread throughout all of the work we do is partnering with brands and businesses that have a true love of culture, and a genuine curiosity for stories that haven’t been told before,” she said. Speak plainly: “[The advertising industry] separates itself from the rest of the world. On the most basic level, look at the language of ad people when they speak with each other, about ‘laddering up’ to a ‘sticky idea’ that ‘generates buzz’ ... if I can’t even speak the language of the audience I am trying to reach, how will I ever communicate with them?” —Jason Notte Clara Malley and Eli Williams Senior creative strategist and director, creative strategy, Day One Agency Consulting the Predictionary: The “fratigue” that comes with over-reliance on entertainment franchises and “AI-nxiety” surrounding society’s cautious approach to artificial intelligence are part of the lexicon of Day One’s cultural reports—collectively known as the Predictionary. “Projects like the Predictionary help us to identify and understand the shifts that are affecting consumer behavior, while building a strategic road map for our clients to navigate the future,” Malley (who arrived at Day One in 2021) told Adweek last year. Memes with meaning: Williams explained to Adweek in 2022 that the best creative work is “founded in human truth and shaped into a story.” Liquid Death, for example, has curbed doomscrolling and “successfully connected to younger consumers with meme-ified marketing tactics that help them stand out.” Catching up to culture: When Williams first joined Day One in 2020, the agency listed one of his pastimes as “getting lost on Twitter.” These niches and communities across social media have become vital to brands and agencies if they want to remain relevant. “The pace of culture is moving faster, and is far more decentralized,” Williams said. —Jason Notte Hope Nardini Creative director, Droga5 New York Dog days: Nardini, an avowed dog lover, brought her personal experience to bear on an experiential campaign she coordinated for Huggies. In her role as the creative director at Droga5, she worked with the diaper brand to create an immersive experience for dogs whose parents were expecting, helping the fur babies acclimate to life alongside real babies. Activism in advertising: Nardini, who has worked at agencies including Energy BBDO, Leo Burnett and McCann, has often woven progressive themes into her work. One campaign she created at McCann was influenced by her creative partner, a transgender man, who shared his difficulty updating his name on his credit card. Together, they crafted a campaign for Mastercard called "True Name," addressing one of the many ways the trans community faces systemic bias. Snack sneak attack: In one of her boldest professional gambits, Nardini helped launch a campaign for Instacart that involved sneaking snacks into last year's Video Music Awards. The ceremony, which forbids outside food, found itself outplayed when Saturday Night Live actress Chloe Fineman—in partnership with Droga5—wore a dress made out of 220,000 snacks, which she delivered in the venue. —Mark Stenberg Sara Singh Strategy director, Deutsch LA Political plans: “I’ve always been interested in communicating messages to people," said Singh, who joined Deutsch LA in 2020. "When I was young, I thought that would be through politics—I even had a campaign slogan, ‘Let Freedom Singh.' I eventually grew out of this phase, but my love for communication always remained.” Most proud professional moment: The Taco Bell x Doja Cat: Return of the Mexican Pizza collaboration, where Singh served as the strategic lead, that worked on building a framework on how Doja Cat and Taco Bell could work together to bring the popular menu item back. “The collaboration ended up becoming a monthslong, playful back-and-forth frenemies vibe, until Taco Bell ultimately brings back the Mexican Pizza by having Doja Cat announce it on the Coachella stage,” said Singh. D.C.-dictated career path: Singh, who is from Alexandria, Va., said the area between D.C., Maryland and Virginia is an interesting melting pot—a “culmination of both deep historical context and cultural progress. It makes growing up in this area super interesting because you learn so many different perspectives from all types of people, a key aspect of being a strategist.” —Kyle O’Brien Quynh Tran Copywriter, Goodby Silverstein & Partners Chemistry and creativity: Tran, a copywriter at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, works alongside her partner, Toan Mai, and their chemistry helps unlock a level of creativity that is hard to replicate. “I still count myself lucky every day for just being able to wake up, go into the office, sit around ping-ponging ideas with my creative partner and end up laughing till we both need to take a break," said Tran. Hacking Cannes: To recenter the creative advertising at the heart of Cannes Lions, Tran and Mai undermined the paywall of the organization by hyperlinking all of its creative works to a domain where they can be viewed publicly. The organization has threatened to sue, but the domain—lovetheworkmore.com—remains live. Embracing obscurity: “You’re new, young, clueless, and frankly you’re nobody in this one gigantic industry. So use that to your own advantage and do whatever feels right to your own guts,” said Tran. “Worst-case scenario: No one will talk about you. Best-case scenario: Everyone will talk about you.” —Mark Stenberg Check out Adweek’s Creative 100 for 2023 by category: Agency Leaders | Branded Content Innovators | TV and Streaming Innovators | Influencers and Celebrities | Media Innovators | Authors and Artists | Directors This story is part of Adweek’s Creativity x Culture digital features package, which spotlights the people, marketing strategies and creativity driving lasting cultural and societal change.

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Creative 100 2023: Rising Agency Talents Who Are Breaking Through

Meet emerging creatives whose work is already cementing itself in culture

Jason Burke and Erin Evon

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