João Coutinho has been appointed North America executive creative director for Y&R. Coutinho will join Y&R in May and be based in New York, reporting to Leslie Sims, Y&R North America chief creative officer. In this new role, Coutinho will work closely with Sims to oversee the creative vision for all key accounts and contribute to new business opportunities across the region.
Coutinho joins Y&R from Grey New York, where he served as group creative director, working for clients such as Volvo, Canon, Clairol, Bosch, and P&G. His work at Grey helped the agency land the title of ‘Most Awarded Agency’ for two years in a row at Cannes. Coutinho was behind the viral campaign ‘Guns with History’ developed for States United to Prevent Gun Violence, a national non-profit organization working to decrease gun death and injury. He was also responsible for the Volvo US “Highway Robbery” campaign, which turned passing cars on a southern California highway into generators.
He also served as creative lead at Ogilvy Brazil, during which time he helped the agency earn Cannes Lions Agency of the Year in 2013, after winning a Grand Prix and 7 Lions. That same year, he was ranked among the Top 10 Art Directors in the world according to The Cannes Report 2013. Prior to joining Ogilvy Brazil, Coutinho served as executive creative director at Lowe Lisbon and Head of Art at JWT Lisbon.
“João’s creative spirit is absolutely infectious. He’s been the force behind ideas that have become part of culture and have truly engaged and touched people all over the world,” said Sims.
Coutinho shared, “The chance to help Leslie shape Y&R North America’s creative culture is the opportunity I’ve worked toward my whole career.”
A Portuguese native, Coutinho has worked in four different countries — Portugal, Spain, Brazil and the United States — across major global and local brands such as Volvo, Canon, Gillette, Audi, Coca Cola, Vodafone, Burger King, Unilever, and Philips. He has served on the jury for the One Show in Direct Marketing, and his work has been recognized by many of the industry’s leading festivals with accolades from Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clio, London International Awards, Jay Chiat Strategy Awards, Art Directors Club of New York, Epica, Eurobest, El Ojo de Iberoamerica, El Sol and more.
