Mike Cessario has joined Doner L.A. as creative director and will report directly to Jason Gaboriau, who was promoted to become the office’s first chief creative officer last month.
Cessario joins the agency from VaynerMedia’s Los Angeles office, where he has served as a creative director since May of 2016, working with brands including Toyota, Sonic Drive-In, Naked Juice, Noosa Yoghurt and Ole Smoky Moonshine. VaynerMedia went through a round of layoffs recently, after closing its San Francisco office last fall. It’s unclear if Cessario was among the employees impacted by the move.
Before joining VaynerMedia, Cessario spent several months as a freelance associate creative director and copywriter with Mistress, Fullscreen Media and TBWA\Chiat\Day, working with brands including Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Twitter, AT&T and Samsung. That followed nine months as vice president, creative director with Street League Skateboarding, where he oversaw all video content and brand creative for Nike’s Rob Dyrdrek-founded skateboard entertainment property.
Prior to that he spent a little over a year as an associate creative director and copywriter with Humanaut, where he worked on the agency’s “Save the Bros” campaign for Organic Valley. He has also spent time as an associate creative director with agencies One Trick Pony and 160over90. He also founded a premium liquor company in Philadelphia called Western Grace Brandy, considers himself a “semi-legit rapper,” taught an “Ideas First” class at Miami Ad School in San Francisco and launched a “Fuel Efficient Car Babes Calendar.”