Rodrigo Jatene, who’s served as co-president and chief creative officer of Grey Brazil for the past four years, has moved to Los Angeles where he has taken up the newly created role of CCO, Grey West, overseeing the L.A. and San Francisco offices.
Jatene, who for years has been a member of the network’s Global Creative Council, will partner with Alex Morrison, president of Grey West, in the management of its growing roster of clients including Nestlé, Fitbit, Hasbro, Ring, FX Networks and CIT Bank. Jatene will set the creative vision, drive the agencies’ culture and development, spearhead the recruitment of top talent and guide new business creative efforts.
Last month Jatene won the coveted Cannes Grand Prix in Mobile for Grey Brazil’s ‘Corruption Detector’ the ingenious app that leverages facial recognition to show Brazilians the history of Brazil’s most corrupt politician. It was one of 15 Cannes Lions he took home this year.
“Rodrigo has been leading some of the most compelling work in the world recently, with technology and a careful humanity at the core of everything he does. He’ll be perfect for Grey West,” said John Patroulis, worldwide CCO of Grey. “Our commitment to ideas that resonate across cultures and platforms, and to borderless ways of getting there, means finding creative leaders who can think and work in innovative ways. Rodrigo has been doing that for his clients, his teams, and Grey to great success for years now. California is due another great agency, I think Rodrigo will help give them one.”
Morrison said, “Rodrigo’s arrival cements Grey West as a nerve center of innovation for our network, delivering ‘Famously Effective’ creativity that puts our clients’ brands at the center of culture.”
Under Jatene’s leadership, Gray Brazil landed 18 new clients. During his career, Jatene has won over 50 Cannes Lions and more than 30 Grand Prix including Cannes, Andy and Effie awards. He is also one of the few in advertising who have managed to achieve for three times a Cannes Gold Lion followed by a Gold Effie for the same project.
Prior to Grey, Jatene spent three years as creative director of Leo Burnett Tailor Made. He has also held senior posts at Wunderman and McCann Madrid.
Jatene said, “I’ve long admired Los Angeles and San Francisco as the two meccas of cutting-edge entertainment and technology respectively, which have stretched the boundaries of advertising. I am pleased to lead Grey West’s expanding team and, with them, help our brands to find new and more interesting ways to make advertising that matters to people.”
Grey Group continues to build out and invest in its growing North American network. In April, the agency launched a new future-facing, full-service, performance marketing hub called Grey Midwest, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, with 80 employees.
