Ari Weiss, an accomplished and widely respected ad agency creative leader, died Friday night (2/15) after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 46.
About a year ago Weiss launched Quality Experience (QX), an independent ad agency for which he served as creative chairman.
Prior to QX, Weiss was global chief creative officer at Omnicom Group agency DDB. Weiss first joined DDB in 2016 as North American chief creative officer, becoming global CCO in 2019. Under his aegis, he had a hand in DDB winning Network of the Year at the 2023 Cannes Lions. His notable work at DDB included campaigns like “The Flip” for McDonald’s where the iconic “M” arches were flipped to a “W” for International Women’s Day; and “Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical” for Mars Wrigley Confectionery. The one-night-only show premiered on Broadway during Super Bowl Sunday in place of a TV ad during the game.
Weiss came over to DDB from BBH New York where he spent six years, leading his teams to 24 Cannes Lions. He moved up the ranks there to become chief creative officer.
Under Weiss’ leadership, BBH NY created award-winning work for clients including AXE, PlayStation, Netflix, Vaseline, Seamless, UNICEF, Sprite and The Weather Channel.
In 2016 Weiss helped launch the political campaign of the fictional presidential candidate Frank Underwood (the star of the Netflix Original Series House of Cards). The campaign launched during the time of the actual presidential election debate and quickly became the top trending topic on Twitter. It was also recognized at the 2016 Cannes Festival with seven Lions, including one of the festival’s most coveted prizes, the Integrated Grand Prix.
In addition, Weiss penned the line “Greatness Awaits,” winning the PlayStation business and leading the brand to what was the largest console launch in gaming history. This successfully took PlayStation from the number three to the number one brand in the category. The launch campaign also received eight Cannes Lions, including Gold for both Cyber and Film–the only campaign to receive that honor in North America at the 2014 festival.
Prior to BBH, Weiss worked at such shops as BBDO, Wieden+Kennedy, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, 180LA and Cliff Freeman & Partners, where he started his career.
Weiss was bullish on the prospects for QX which was built on the core belief that “Experience is everything and everything is an experience.”
At the time of QX’s opening, he affirmed, “We’re not talking just experiential marketing; at Quality Experience, we believe all aspects of advertising should be looked at as experiences. It raises the stakes in everything we do. It drives us to look at every interaction with a brand as an opportunity. This requires a simple idea that can flex and connect, adding value across thousands of touchpoints.”
QX had turned out notable work for clients including Shutterfly and Tonal. His partners at QX were chief creative officer Cristina Reina, chief strategy officer Colleen Leddy and CEO Dan Gonda.
Weiss is survived by his wife Dara and three children.
