ADWEEK's Team Visionary Awards 2026: Getting Things Done Better, Together

The 60-person creative team at Zero Studios believes the best work happens when brand, digital, content, and commerce all sit in the same room. Bringing together writers, designers, developers, strategists, and content creators, the team has helped brands including Poppi and Touchland go from challenger to heavy hitter. For BTS-backed noodle and beverage brand Arih, Zero built the brand’s pre- and post-launch strategy and social presence, growing its Instagram following from 17 to over 1 million in two days and driving product sellouts at Walmart. Touchland saw sales rise 56% during Zero’s partnership. With 45% revenue growth in 2025 and 60% of revenue from longstanding clients, Zero’s collaborative model delivers work that works.

Mark Goldwell, Founding Partner, Executive Creative Director
Chelsea Goldwell, Partner, Creative Director
Joseph Delaney III, Founding Partner, Managing Director
Adriana Gonzales, Associate Creative Director Brand
Ian Pierno, Associate Creative Director Social
Erin Chaiken, Growth
Frankie Atallah, Account Director
Patrick Serr, Technology Lead

When strategy, creative, production, and distribution sit under one roof, clients move from concept to launch with fewer handoffs and greater creative alignment. Since 2017, MGX Creative’s agency team of over 20 creatives—led by filmmaker and strategist Karam Gill—has built scalable original IP for Spotify, Coachella, Fujifilm, and American Express. Its YouTube series starring Marshmello has produced over 200 original episodes, gaining 52 million new subscribers to the artist’s channel. For Coachella, MGX produced the multi-year original franchise Arrival to extend the festival beyond the gates, reaching 80 million viewers in its first season and earning an Official Selection at Tribeca X 2026. 

Karam Gill, Founder & CEO
Andrew Primavera, Partner & Head of Content
Jake Eisner, Head of Production
Harrison Kunz, Head of Post Production
Meghna Chakraborty, Development Manager

To be part of cultural moments as they happen, Digitas North America deploys a S.W.A.T. (Share Worthy and Trending) team of social natives who anticipate, create, and engage in real time. The cross-functional engine of 128 contributors embed social strategists with content creators, while account leads keep great ideas moving. Since 2023, the team has yielded results for over 45 clients across industries, from CPG and financial services to entertainment and footwear. During Super Bowl 2026, S.W.A.T. managed to drive a 15.2% engagement rate for a snack food client. When Barbie went to Coachella, S.W.A.T. made her the No. 1 mentioned brand during the festival’s first weekend. By surfacing macro and micro trends across platforms, S.W.A.T. also informs product innovation and media decisions, contributing to Digitas’ 94% client retention rate and historic new business wins.

Christina Goswiller, Head of Social Transformation 
Chelsea Real, VP/GD, Social Strategy, S.W.A.T. Co-Lead 
Rishi Magia, Head of Social Creative, S.W.A.T. Co-Lead 
Lydia Cox, National Social Practice Lead 
Amy Trainor, Social Strategy Resource Lead, Chicago/NY 
Lyndsay Batten, S.W.A.T. Creator, Chicago 
Jasmine Brown, S.W.A.T. Creator, New York 
Janet Catano, S.W.A.T. Creator, Atlanta 
Matt Carucci, S.W.A.T. Creator, New York 
Carl Celedio, S.W.A.T. Creator, San Francisco 
Julia Kuzman, S.W.A.T. Creator, New York 
Jen Lap, S.W.A.T. Creator, New York 
Sarah Liddy, S.W.A.T. Creator, New York 
Annie Lambesis, S.W.A.T. Creator, Chicago 
Regin Mantuano, S.W.A.T. Creator, New York 
Daniel Paul, S.W.A.T. Creator, Allentown 
Lorena Pedetti, S.W.A.T. Creator, New York 
Susy Salcedo, S.W.A.T. Creator, Austin 
Eliette Singleton, S.W.A.T. Creator, Los Angeles 
Georgie Wynn, Social Strategy, S.W.A.T. Culture Briefing Editor, Boston  
Ameera Masud, Social Strategy, S.W.A.T. Culture Briefing Editor, Chicago  
Palak Joshi, Social Strategy, S.W.A.T. Culture Briefing Editor, Atlanta 
Georgia Mountroukas, Social Strategy, S.W.A.T. Culture Briefing Editor, New York 
Ariana Pena-Herrerra, Social Strategy, S.W.A.T. Culture Briefing Editor, Boston 
Aysha Chaudhry, Data & Analytics, S.W.A.T. Culture Briefing Editor 
Madisson Boggess, Data & Analytics, S.W.A.T. Culture Briefing Editor 
Emily Fraser, Data & Analytics, S.W.A.T. Culture Briefing Editor 
Radhika Sekhsaria, Designer, S.W.A.T. Culture Briefing Editor

The cultural heart of Innocean USA beats to the rhythm of its social media team. The team of about 60 combines sharp instincts, creative thinking, and deep client trust, giving brands the confidence to move quickly when a social moment happens. Its “Comment for Mods” campaign inviting fans to submit ideas for Hyundai Ioniq 5 concepts logged Instagram shares 5,000% above benchmark, with 88% of engagement coming from non-followers. And when TikTok user Romeo’s Hyundai-themed jingle gained traction, the team sent her on a road trip that generated 60 million views. And the team’s instincts were invaluable to Hyundai’s response to the viral Group 7 conversation about the TikTok algorithm, which earned coverage from Newsweek and USA Today while generating a 19.4% engagement rate. The common thread is an ability to turn social media into a business driver rather than treating it as a distribution channel.

Aaron Barnett, Influencer Manager
Allison Inouye, Senior Art Director
Amanda Loo, Account Supervisor
Anastazia Brown, Account Executive
Anne Krisl, Senior Art Director
Ashley Carr, Group Director, Social Media and Strategy
Ashlee Eakin, Art Director
Aubry Mackin, Art Director
Bianca Greene, Senior Art Director
Brian Bauman, Account Director, Social
Brian Searles, Senior Content Producer
Brandon Mugar, Executive Creative Director
Carissa Thompson, Senior Community Manager
Cassie Reed, Group Account Director, Social
Dasha Neymark-Kendrick, Account Supervisor
Damien Sanchez, Account Supervisor
Emma Lawrence, Art Director
Erica Henderson, Creative Director
Ginger Quintanilla, Creative Director
Hannah Osborne, Senior Community Manager
Jamin Duncan, Group Creative Director
Jason Delos Santos, Senior Business Affairs Manager
Jason Sperling, Chief Creative Officer
Jessica Govoreau, Social Strategist
Jessica Pekema, Account Director
Jessie Avila Vargas, Senior Community Manager
Jill Pool, VP, Creative Resourcing
Jonathan Guzman, Community Manager, Social
Johnny Nguyen, ACD Art Director
Kayley Vandenberg, Senior Copywriter
Kedar Berntson, Copywriter
Kristen Scharf, Senior Copywriter
Kristine Bethmann, Account Director, Social
Krystle Nguyen, Senior Social Strategy and Insights Manager
Kyla Alameida, Management Supervisor, Social
Kyli Simmons, Account Coordinator
Luiz Vicente Simoes, Creative Director
Lydia Cox, National Social Practice Lead
Marcella Coad, Group Creative Director
Matt League, ACD Copywriter
Michael Flannery, Group Creative Director
Michelle Lee, Community Manager
Morgan Hubler, Senior Art Director
Nicole Barlow, ACD Copywriter
Noor Keim, Group Director, Social Media and Strategy
Otto Pajunk, Creative Director
Parker McDermott, Art Director
Peter Chaney, Director of Content Creation
Rebecca Wojcicki, VP, Group Account Director, Social
Ricardo Gurgel, Creative Director
Ryan Barkhuizen, Group Creative Director
Ryan Owens, Senior Art Director
Ryan Scott, Executive Creative Director
Samantha Brewster, Community Manager
Samuel Kang, Art Director/Designer
Scott Shin, Senior Copywriter
Shawn Dempewolff, Copywriter
Sheldon Pryor, Account Executive
Skyler Gregerson, Senior Art Director
Sumner Mahaffey, ACD Art Director
Sydney Christensen, Art Director
Taylor Durrow, Awards/Assets Project Manager
Theresa Myrill, VP, Group Social Director, Genesis and Hyundai
Vincent Largoza, Senior Copywriter

Great news, you won the Salesforce performance business! Now assume all global media responsibilities and launch across 34 global markets in under two months. No problem for iProspect’s Agency Strategy Team, which did just that in July 2025. The globally distributed team of 88 launched over 70 multichannel campaigns, produced thousands of creative assets, and built 1,400 paid search campaigns shortly after onboarding. By September, Dentsu-owned iProspect had expanded its remit to brand media, including planning Salesforce’s first-ever Super Bowl ad starring MrBeast that drove a 21-point perception lift. Soon to come from the companies is an agentic AI-enabled audience tool that combines Salesforce’s first-party data with Dentsu’s proprietary insights platform.

Justin Claassen, EVP, Managing Director
Erika Baggs-Geoghegan, VP, Planning
Alyssa Palmquist, VP, Planning
Luke Boyadjian, APAC Director, Planning
Aaron Brody, VP, Marketing Effectiveness, dentsu 
Lauren Choute, Associate Director, National Video Investment, dentsu 
Jared DeSisto, VP, Connected Investment
Mick DiPeri, SVP, Media Investment, dentsu 
Verity Dyson, EMEA VP, Planning
Axel Knust, Group Director, Digital
Walker Osterberg, Americas Group Director, Planning
Hannah Wofford, Director, Planning
Alex Young, Group Director, Social
Julien Zidi, VP, Strategy

Burrell Communications Group’s five-person Planning and Research team is the small but mighty force that unites creative, media, experiential, and client partners across nine Toyota models. Its research-led approach helped Toyota deepen its relationship with Black consumers through “You Can’t Stop My Drive,” which delivered the highest lift in imagery metrics for an African American-targeted campaign in the carmaker’s history. The team also tackled EV skepticism with “Haters Anthem,” where puppets became human after seeing the light of electric-powered driving; the campaign drove major gains in perception (12 points) and practicality (16 points). The secret to their success is a laboratory-style workflow that treats planning as an ongoing experiment, with constant testing and refinement as stakeholders share their insights. 

God-is Rivera, Chief Strategy Officer
Jeffrey Fortune, VP, Planning & Strategy 
Tonya Roberts, VP, Consumer Insights 
Donielle Johnson, Senior Account Planner
Kendolyn Davis, Jr. Strategist

Social-first creative and creator marketing agency LV8’s influencer team credits its cultural fluency to an end-to-end strategy, from creator partnerships to production, paid media and distribution. This integrated approach helped Butter Baby’s Los Angeles one-day pop-up generate 111 million views and 615 pieces of content, while its Warner Bros. and Apple F1: The Movie campaign drove more than 335,000 ticket-site clicks. The team significantly exceeded growth and campaign performance goals across revenue, engagement, creator expansion, and client impact. This 15-person crew helped LV8 grow annual revenue from $2.3 million in 2024 to $8.6 million in 2025, with projected 2026 revenue reaching $15 million. Influencer marketing campaigns now make up about 80% of the agency’s revenue, and have attracted more and bigger relationships with the likes of Apple Music, UFC, Beats by Dre, and Universal Music Group.

Griffin Haddrill, CEO, Co-founder
Gabrielle Gamad, COO, Co-founder
Chris Collett, Head of Digital
Moises Martinez, Creative & Content Strategist
Chase Loder Wohnoutka, Project Manager
Arianna Maher, Project Manager
Yasaman Rajaeian, Head of Content
Lane Krai, Project Manager
Daniel DeVore, Coordinator
Lara Hagans, Coordinator
Ian Hiscock, Head of Paid Media

To turn a 20-year-old Chili’s menu item, the Triple Dipper, into a cultural trend for Gen Z, Influencer’s team turned creators into strategic collaborators. Together with the restaurant’s social and influencer leads, the agency prepped and empowered nine TikTok creators to build stories in their own styles and shaped by their communities, generating a 9% engagement rate—more than 50% above target—and reaching 21.7 million people. Standouts Kaelyn Gutierrez and Zachariah Porter delivered engagement rates 129% and 75% above benchmark, respectively. The campaign helped drive 23 million additional Triple Dipper orders, with the menu item now accounting for 15% of Chili’s sales. In Chili’s fiscal 2026 results, CEO Kevin Hochman credited marketing and brand building as key drivers behind its 8.6% same-store sales growth. 

Claire Thompson, Executive Director, Brand Partnerships, Influencer
Kellie Matzen, Vice President, Brand & Platform Partnerships, Influencer
Brette Wilson, Account Director, Influencer
Skyler Su, Senior Account Executive, Influencer
Chrystal Posada, Senior Account Executive, Influencer
Luz Bickert, Director, Social Media, Influencer Strategy & Cultural Moments, Chili’s 
Erin Duncan, Manager, Influencer Marketing, Chili’s

Canva’s 15-person Global Experiential Marketing team operates like a production company, bringing brand, growth, enterprise marketing, creative, and field teams together across four continents. Its flagship Canva Create event grew from 5,000 registrations in 2025 to 7 million keynote views in 2026, while securing 90-plus media placements within hours of launch. At Canva World Tour, the team helped deliver over 310,000 in-person attendees across more than 250 events in 31 countries, training more than 1 million people. Bett UK generated 340 MQLs against a goal of 70, while Cannes Lions Creative Cabana drew 4,036 attendees and more than 100 sales meetings. From stadiums to beach cabanas, B2B experiential events have never looked so good. 

Jimmy Knowles, Global Head of Experiential
Kim Wohlleb, Global Experiential Marketing Lead, Brand & Edu
Nat Schacht, Global Experiential Marketing Lead, Owned Events & Pro Design
Gideon Spitzer-Williams, Global Experiential Marketing Lead, B2B
Victoria Gilmore, Senior Experiential Marketing Manager
Kelly Dinh, Senior Experiential Marketing Manager
Danny Higgins, Experiential Marketing Manager
Alex Aviv, Senior Experiential Marketing Manager
Michelle Roach, Senior Experiential Marketing Manager
Jessica Johnston, Experiential Marketing Manager
Sophie Taylor, Creative Lead, Experiential
Giulia Aliverti, Program Manager
Naureen Meyer, Senior Experiential Designer
Hanna Sorbito, Copywriter
Ezzie Gatila, Designer
Carina Truong, Designer

A diverse crew of more than 150 specialists in offices across three continents make up global experiential studio De-Yan. The agency’s integrated model unites creative, technology, fabrication, architecture, and production from the start, ensuring that what is envisioned is what gets built. In the past 12 months alone, De-Yan executed over 220 projects while its proprietary measurement platform, Hyperion, tied every brief to business outcomes. Audiences recall De-Yan’s experiences up to nine weeks later, besting industry averages—perhaps that’s what compelled over 25 new brands to join its roster over the past year, including Comcast, Luma, McDonald’s, Uniqlo, and Zevia, while growing its remit with Meta, Steve Madden, and YouTube.

Steve Martell, Chief Innovation Officer
Jason Kreher, Chief Creative Officer
Court Williams, Vice President of Creative Strategy
Dejan Jovanovic, Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Camila Romano, Head of Architecture
Stefan Djordjevic, Vice President
Emil Lanne, Executive Creative Director
Jakob Peter Konrad, Executive Creative Director
May Ghadanfar, Creative Director
Maja Miladinovic, Art Director
Jovana Stakić, Art Director
Eric Satoru, Art Director
Dušan Miletić, Associate Creative Director

Over 30 major events across multiple franchises, one can-do Live Social Team at Bloomberg Media. They run all the platforms, as well as contributing to live news coverage and supporting more than 30 major worldwide events annually. To pull off this feat, they lean into on-site content to capture the energy of Bloomberg Live events, as well as creator partnerships with tech natives such as Natalie Fratto (Charts & Crafts). The team exceeded every year-over-year KPI in 2026, increasing production by 98% and driving organic double-digit growth across Instagram (38%), LinkedIn by (34%), and YouTube (26%).

Director of Social Media, Joelle Fontana
Social Media Manager, Diana Busardo
Social Media Associate, Meg Caceres

Disney Entertainment Television spans Disney+, Hulu, ABC, Freeform, Disney Channel, Disney Jr., and National Geographic—so go ahead, be impressed that a single 80-person brand social media team handles it all in-house, building fandoms and driving business to the tune of more than 8 billion views and 700 million engagements across owned social content in 2025. When Get Real House brings together reality TV stars from across various shows, the social team took the event beyond the venue with a Snapchat mirror and TikTok Live. They also made sure the entire internet became part of the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special with a TikTok search Easter egg and custom Google activation. And the 24th season of American Idol became the first of any show to use social voting, resulting in more than 21 million votes cast across social media platforms.

Brittany Mehciz, SVP, Social, Disney Entertainment Television & DTC  
Megan Wahtera, VP, Social Media & Synergy 
Abby Ho, VP, Social Media & Engagement Strategy 
Anika Houston, Director, Brand Social Innovation & Community 
Nick Walsh, Executive Director, Originals Social Media 
Aiman Ahmed, VP, Social Media, National Geographic
Nicole Leo, Director, Talent & Influencer Partnerships

Millennials and Gen Z buy with their hearts, while insurance messaging has been stuck in pricing tactics and practicality. State Farm’s over 500-strong marketing team focuses on highlighting “the value of value” through its Good Neighbor promise and KPIs focused on favorability and engagement on emerging platforms. The 104-year-old brand strives for clear, relevant storytelling in campaigns such as “Not the Same,” presented during NFL games to make the topic of insurance feel more approachable, driving a 5-point YoY lift in differentiation among non-customers. The original series “Gamerhood,” created with gaming talent including Kai Cenat, has generated over 65.6 million engagements over four seasons. And “With the Assist,” spanning NBA, WNBA, NCAA and high school basketball, delivered a 45% lift in business value versus 2025 averages. 

Sue Beigie, Marketing Executive, Strategy Campaign Management
Megan Baumann, Marketing Executive, Social Media, Earned Media, Communications Operations 
Clinton Inselmann, Marketing Executive, Brand Design & Creative
Sean Kingsbury, Marketing Executive, Agent Marketing
Baldwin Cunningham, Marketing Executive, Analytics, Marketing Tech & Science, Media & Partnerships Performance Marketing

Step inside the House of Creative, Pinterest’s 92-person global in-house agency, and you’ll find a full-service creative operation and production studio. They turn Pinterest’s data and platform advantage into work that moves the needle with initiatives such as Pinterest Predicts, which generated $22.5 million in revenue in 2026—325% ahead of last year. At Coachella, HOC made Pinterest’s space entirely phone-free, creating an offline experience that drove an 809% YoY increase in press engagement. And HOC doesn’t exist in a bubble: Cross-functional RASCIs and weekly executive reviews keep the agency accountable to larger company KPIs spanning brand health, user growth, and revenue.

Abby Adesanya, Sr. Writer
Ainsley Romero, Designer
Alexa Inkeles, Sr. Manager, Creative Director, Story Team
Alexandra Camacho, Sr. Designer, Brand Identity
Ali Pulver, Lead Creative Content Strategist, Advertiser
Aly Lund, Sr. Creative Producer, Marketing
Amy Raven-Reilly, Experiential Lead
Anna Hustler, Sr. Manager, Creative Director
Ariel Quaglia, Experiential Lead
Arienne Gagui, Sr. Designer
Becca Morton, Sr. Director, Creative
Bill Rogers, Sr. Designer, PPM
Brandi Steele, Lead Designer
Camille Sudekum, Designer
Carson Porter, Lead Editor, Story Team
Chri Romero, Sr. Creative Director
Christyna Conway, Sr. Designer, Brand Experiences
Darip Kim, Sr. Designer, PPM
Diana Fischman, Sr. Lead Creative Producer, Marketing
Elias Rabeh, Manager II, Associate Creative Director
Elisa Moore, Sr. Lead Creative Producer, Content
Jaime Justen, Sr. Designer
JC Ceberio, Sr. Designer, PPM
Jera Mehrdad, Sr. Creative Director
Jeremy Sitbon, Writer, PPM
Jessica Koontz, Sr. Manager, Executive Producer
Jessie Mizrahi, Lead Creative Producer, Marketing
Judy Lee, Sr. Director, Creative, Sr. Managing Director of Global Brand & Creative
Julia Sabot, Sr. Art Director
Katie Rios-Santos, Associate Creative Marketing Specialist
Kelsey Lemons, Creative Marketing Manager
Kim Linn, Creative Director 
Kitron Neuschatz, Sr. Art Director
Krista Cruickshank, Experiential Manager, Production
Kyle Stewart Manager II, Associate Creative Director, PPM
Laura Amschel, Sr. Creative Producer, Marketing
Maddi Wagner, Sr. Writer
Marissa Marchese, Sr. Project & Program Manager
Maya Wong, Manager II, Associate Creative Director|
Mia Madrid, Lead Writer
Micaela Brookman, Sr. Manager, Creative Director, Art Direction
Michelle Van Houten, Sr. Creative Producer, Marketing
Mikayla Hittle, Designer
Mykel Dodson, Lead Creative Producer, Marketing
Nadia Aminzadeh, Experiential Lead
Nick Cho, Designer
Pedro Orendain, Sr. Designer, Motion, Story Team
Philip Czapla, Lead Designer, Interactive
Randy Katz, Lead Writer
Ricardo Baltazar, Lead Art Director
Seán Doyle, Director, Creative, Global Brand Experiences
Simon Blockley, Director, Creative, Core Brand
Stacey Mayhew, Sr. Manager, Executive Producer
Tamara Costa, Sr. Manager, Project & Program Management
Taylor English, Lead Designer
Ted Copeland, Lead Creative Producer, Marketing
Tess Stairiker, Writer
Vivien Gallasch, Writer, PPM
Xanthe Wells, VP, Creative

“Comedy’s greatest ad agency” sounds like a punchline, but it’s no joke. With a specialty in humor, Party Land has tickled clients’ funny bones to the tune of inbound jumping 500%, with 60% of new business arriving via AI search already sold on the bit. The past year was their best yet for new business, signing 11 brands including Google Search, JetBlue, Truly Hard Seltzer, and Chewy, and posting 8% revenue growth. Among their amused clients are Men’s Wearhouse, whose “Love the Way You Look” is the best-performing ad campaign in the company’s 50-year history, and JanSport, whose “Always With You” Gen Z-focused campaign had a 99% view-through rate on TikTok. Now who’s laughing?

Matt Heath, Co-founder, Chief Creative Officer 
Haley Hunter, Co-founder, Chief Operating & Marketing Officer 
Suzy Langdell, Director of New Business
Sean McNamara, Head of Strategy 
Andy Silva, Managing Director, Partner 
Charlie Wolff, Executive Creative Director

72andSunny’s Global Leadership Team has guided the agency to two consecutive years of double-digit growth, with revenue up 30% in 2024 and 20% in 2025. Led by Global CEO Evin Shutt, the eight-person team has helped win more than 100 clients since 2020, including United Airlines, Adobe, and Indeed, while expanding the agency globally through the 72andSunny Creative Collective. Launched in 2025, the Collective added offices in Singapore and Toronto, and brought Forsman & Bodenfors and Bruce Mau into the network. With 75% of leadership promoted internally, the team’s collaborative model has paired growth with a deep investment in talent and a commitment to creating culture-defining work.

Evin Shutt, Global CEO
Matt Murphy, Global CCO
Bryan Smith, Global CSO
Damaune Journey, Global CGO
Emily Venizelos, Global Chief Talent Officer
Kellan Dahlquist, Global CFO
Patricia Rothenberg, Global COO
Lora Schulson, Global Chief Production Officer
Matt Jarvis, Chairman
Glenn Cole, Founder & Chairman
John Boiler, Founder

Good Apple and Astellas united media planning, programmatic, analytics, and patient marketing around a shared goal: raising awareness among people with a degenerative eye condition called geographic atrophy and moving them to diagnosis and specialist care. Good Apple brought the media planning, analytics, and real-time cross-channel optimization, while Astellas’ patient marketing team created a unified, data-driven patient journey. Their FY25 Izervay plan reached 95% of the 1 million diagnosed U.S. patients, while improving digital cost per diagnosed patient 69% YoY and generated a 1.83 ROI. The team drove 2.1 million qualified site visits, 33% above the prior year, and media exposure contributed to 304,000 retina specialist visits.

Good Apple
Mary Gulotta, VP of Media
Sean Lynam, Sr. Account Director
Mary Altonji, Director, Analytics
Sydney Axelrod, Director, Paid Search
Brittany Giordano, Data Analyst
Olivia Loggia, Media Supervisor
Julia McNally, Media Planner
Mariano Pantoja, Senior Programmatic Strategist
Chloe Powell, Social Strategist
Andrea Sarhis, Associate Director, Social
Lauren Ver Steeg, Associate Director, Programmatic

Astellas
Nimi Patel, Marketing Manager, Ophthalmology
Amy Jui, Senior Marketing Manager, Patient Marketing
Karen Marchetti, Senior Director, HCP (Retina) Marketing, Izervay

Initiative’s 200-plus-person Team Magenta has turned T-Mobile’s massive media operation into a model for agency-client collaboration, spanning disciplines, organizations, and time zones. The team orchestrates billions in annual media investment and more than 300 campaigns while helping shape T-Mobile’s broader marketing transformation. In 2025, it exceeded customer acquisition goals by 3% and improved media ROI 23%, extending a streak of 10 consecutive quarters of growth. Its AI-enabled operating system now includes over 70 use cases and 20 custom agents, delivering average efficiency gains of seven hours per person each week. Behind the technology, the five-year media AOR relationship thrives on a culture built on shared accountability, empathy, and constant collaboration.

Jennifer Hourigan, President, T-Mobile & Client Leadership
Catherine McGuinness, Managing Director, Client Advice & Management, T-Mobile
Paul Gerlando, Head of Product, T-Mobile
Emily Adams, Head of Partnerships, T-Mobile
Krag Klages, Head of Analytics, T-Mobile
David Cordova, Senior Group Director, Client Advice & Management
Tom Williams, Senior Group Director, Client Advice & Management
Rebecca Burdick, Senior Group Director, Client Advice & Management
Tiffany Lo, Group Director, Client Advice & Management
Jamie Bless, Senior Group Director, Client Operations
Robert Jackson, Senior Group Director, Strategy
Mi Mai, Group Director, Strategy
Adam Brumbergs, Senior Group Director, Communications Design
Britni Sternquist, Senior Group Director, Communications Design
Sean Harwood, Group Director, Content & Sponsorships
Shannon Collins, Group Director, Video Partnerships
Carl Strum, Group Director, Video Futures
Jessica Drake, Senior Group Director, Digital Partnerships
Jason Goodlett, Group Director, Creative Management
Nick Dolendi, Group Director, Analytics
Colleen Rooney, Vice President, Social Performance
Heather Foy, Vice President, Local Investment

Small teams are just built differently. MoonLab’s Kelsie Brunick, Abby Bunker, Stefani Romagnoli, and Leah Hoppe support 15 remote-first full-time employees through a combined People, Operations and Business Strategy department. The setup speeds decision-making while ensuring that culture and performance remain joint priorities. Among the changes introduced over the past year are a professional development stipend and a project-based bonus structure, reinforcing a compensation philosophy based on shared success. Efforts like that are part of the reason employees just don’t leave: MoonLab maintains an above-benchmark 86.7% employee retention rate and an average team tenure of 3.3 years.

Kelsie Brunick, Head of Operations and People 
Abby Bunker, Director of Operations and Business Strategy 
Stefani Romagnoli, Operations Manager and Mission Ambassador
Leah Hoppe, Operations and Finance Coordinator

Wrangling 131 globally distributed employees in a flat organization isn’t easy, but the people team of Isidora Torres and Min Ki keep beehiiv lithe through innovation. After an employee survey revealed that reviews felt too tied to compensation, they introduced Replays to focus on self-reflection through existing workflows, resulting in a 100% completion rate. And as the company scaled and added managerial levels, they worked with leaders to establish clear reporting lines and reorganize teams to better meet business objectives. In the end, a whopping 87% of employees agreed with the changes and supported them. 

Isidora Torres, VP, People
Min Ki, People Operations Manager

With more than 500 strategists, creators, social commerce experts, and advisers spread across 16 global hubs, the foundation of VML’s social team has to be collaboration. The collective, led by Liz Cole in a pioneering C-level role as chief social officer, remains agile by tying together trendspotting and content optimization with a proprietary AI tool suite called WPP Open, delivering up to 25% higher engagement rates. These results show up across long-term clients such as Wendy’s, where the latest “Frosty Fix” campaign saw $1.4 million in CRM-driven revenue, and trendy niches like BookTok, where a social-first campaign for Audible resulted in 51% follower growth. Oh, and T-Rex leather? That was VML too. With 18 new social AOR assignments in the last 18 months, the team is driving significant growth for the overall agency business.

Debbi Vandeven, Global Chief Creative Officer, VML
Rafael Pitanguy, Deputy Global Chief Creative Officer, VML
Bas Korsten, Global Chief Creative Officer Innovation & EMEA CCO, Concept Creator
Dimitri Guerassimov, Chief Creative Officer, VML France
Jaime Mandelbaum, EMEA CCO
Alexandre Vivier, Creative Director, Brand Design Lead
Carlos Baer Chief Content & Production Officer
Billi Hatfield, Associate Director of Communications
Jennifer Aston, Managing Director, Creative Operations
Philippa Cave, Commercial Director
Arthur Cieutat, Associate Creative Director
Nicolas Amiard, Associate Creative Director
Leon Kotze, Associate Creative Director
Mia Sharp, Copywriter
Mikael Acourt, Copywriter
Orelia Mekelleche, Art Director
James Lawson, Art Director
Quentin Rabault, Art Director
Adrien Caquant, Art Director
Camille Pot, Art Director
Clémence Raynard, Art Director
Clément Cazaubon, UI Designer
Nicolas Chamauret, Technical Director of Digital Experience
Aurélien Bourdelais, Head of CX/UX
Luca di Fazio, Tech Lead Ecommerce
Laura Alves, Head of Social Media
Lionel Gomez, Head of Strategic Planning & UX
Lydia Tamarat, Senior Strategic Planner
Valérie Montiel, Head of TV, WPP Production
Anna Lyubynetska, Lead Editor, WPP Production
Emmanuel Cuesta, Creative Producer & Director, Kuest Production
Susie Safavi, Account Director, Propeller
Jessica Hartley, Founder & PR Strategist, For The Right Reasons
Thomas Mitchell, CEO, The Organoid Company
Ernst J. Wolvetang, Chief Scientific Officer, The Organoid Company
Michal Hadas, Founder & Lead Designer, Enfin Levé
Eva Krook, Managing Director, Art Zoo Museum
Iacopo Briano, Natural History Expert, Art Zoo Museum

The all-woman team at The Brand Agency sets the standard for public relations with an industry-defining client list that includes Sephora, Disney, Alo, and Prime Video. By breaking down the wall between PR and influencer teams, the bicoastal agency creates savvy campaigns that build brand equity while connecting audiences with authentic stories. Paramount+’s The Lodge activation began four years ago at San Diego Comic Con, and has since grown into a national touring experience through strategic PR, messaging, media relations, talent integration, and storytelling. The Brand Agency also demonstrated its commitment to operating in socially responsible ways by telling a delicate client story for Simon & Schuster’s We Just Might Make It After All that generated over 6 billion impressions.

Priscila Martinez, Founder & CEO
MK Glenning, Managing Director
Chloe Farraj, Senior Account Director
Kristen Sloan, Senior Account Executive
Aleigh Beard, Senior Account Executive
Ally Kynev, Account Executive
Renee Talavera, Account Executive
Tayler Thompson, PR Coordinator
Nicole Villagomez, PR Associate

In the end, an ad lives or dies by getting two things right: idea and execution. At Chicago-based independent ad agency Highdive, those two points meet between creative director Ben Doessel, who dreams up ideas that convert a room into believers, and VFX director Randy McEntee, the engineer who refines the dream for the real world. Their shared obsession with AI tools keeps projects moving at the speed of culture: Digit, the agency’s AI production house, parachuted Jeeps down from cargo planes (a feat acknowledged in Google’s Cannes Lions presentation) and brought State Farm’s Stan to the NBA Finals, tripling the insurer’s monthly traffic on X. The agency continues to build its own suite of AI-native tools, forging an end-to-end production pipeline that’s cheaper and faster than VFX without the tradeoffs.

Ben Doessel, Creative Director
Randy McEntee, Director of VFX and Creative Technologist, 1986 Studios

One Platform, one team, endless results. Ryan McConville’s crew of about 190 product and adtech experts at NBCUniversal Advertising & Partnerships is making ad buying more holistic, solving the measurement problem, and supercharging the speed to market for cross-platform campaigns. They built NBCUniversal’s One Platform, a unified stack turning fragmented screens into a single audience that marketers can actually plan against: Total Audience unifies linear and streaming into one buy; Live Total Impact stretches a brand’s big moment across the entire portfolio; AI-powered Contextual Targeting in Live aligns creative with content in real time. To measure it all, the Performance Insights Hub delivers mid-flight insights with first- and third-party data for advertisers of all sizes. Among One Platform’s client results: a 32% lift in purchase intent and contributing to a 64% rise in incremental store visits.

Ryan McConville, EVP & Chief Product Officer, Advertising Products & Solutions
Sasha Ripp, VP, Program Management 
Peter Randazzo, SVP, Head of Product, Ad Platforms & Operations
Mike Fisher, VP, Solutions, Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal 
Craig Neslage, Sr. Director, Program Management
Julie Nielsen, VP, Program Management
Erin Bane, VP, Program Management
Brett Blieden, Sr. Director, Program Management
Nicholas Lustig, VP, Program Management
Leah VanZelm, SVP, Data Science, Measurement and Insights, Advertising Products, NBCUniversal, NBCUniversal Advertising & Partnerships
Stephane Krzywoglowy, SVP, Ad Product, Customer Solutions, Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal
Katie Coghlan, SVP, Data Product & Partnerships, NBCUniversal 
Samuel Wasserman, Director, Solutions Implementation  
Victoria Del Cid, Director, Solutions Implementation 
David Duvall, Sr. Director, Solutions 
Patricia Reilly, Sr. Director, Solutions  
Wolly Taing, VP, Solutions