ADVERTISING.
DESIGN.
BRAND.

The first life

Advertising. Ogilvy, TBWA, M&C Saatchi, McCann. Four global networks across Milan and Amsterdam. Different categories, different cultures, different business problems. I learned how to find the idea quickly, make it matter strategically, and defend it in a room. Agency life gave me the creative discipline and commercial instinct that still shape how I lead today.

The second life

Design. I never saw brand identity as decoration around a campaign. I've created 50+ identities and built the systems that make them work across channels, markets and teams. I think in frameworks, languages and principles, not isolated executions. That combination of advertising thinking and design discipline has become one of my strongest advantages as a creative leader.

The third life

Brand building. The in-house years changed the scale of the problem. At G-Star RAW, I learned what it takes to protect a distinctive brand while keeping it culturally relevant. At Catawiki, I worked on a brand system spanning 80+ countries and dozens of categories. At Exness, I lead creative in financial services, where the brand has to earn attention and trust in equal measure.

The shift

Moving from agency to in-house changed what I believe creative leadership actually means.

In an agency, the goal is often to make the strongest possible piece of work and get it into the world. In-house, the responsibility is broader. You have to build the conditions for good work to happen repeatedly: the strategy, the standards, the systems, the team and the relationships around them.

Agency life taught me how to make exceptional work under pressure. In-house taught me how to build the environment that makes exceptional work sustainable. At this stage of my career, the second problem interests me more.

I believe the best brands are built through a series of clear decisions: who they are, what they stand for, how they behave, and what they refuse to become. Creative leadership is making those decisions visible, then building the systems and teams capable of delivering them consistently.

What I actually do

I lead creative direction from strategy through execution. I shape brand positioning, creative platforms and identities, then translate them into campaigns, digital experiences, motion, content and film. I work across disciplines because the job is not to protect a medium. It is to make the right creative decision for the business and the audience.

I've led multidisciplinary teams of 15+ across brand design, UX, motion and content. I've directed identity systems across international markets, pitched and won new business at agency level, and helped build creative capabilities inside organizations. My role is increasingly about setting the standard, making the difficult decisions, and giving talented people the clarity to do their best work.

What I care about

The work I'm proudest of is not necessarily the work with the biggest award shelf. It's seeing a team become better because I led it. Stronger judgement. Better feedback. More confidence. Higher standards.

A creative function that only works when one person is in the room is not a function. It's a dependency. Senior creative leadership should make the organization stronger, not make the leader indispensable.

I build teams around clear standards, honest feedback and real ownership. Junior creatives should make meaningful decisions. Senior creatives should know when to challenge the brief. Leaders should create clarity rather than become another layer of approval. The goal is a team capable of producing excellent work without waiting for permission.

What I believe

The best brands aren't built from mood boards. They're built from conviction: a clear decision about who you are, who you're for, and who you're willing to lose.

Systems over campaigns. A campaign can create attention. A strong brand system creates consistency, recognition and leverage. I care about the infrastructure that lets many people make decisions that still feel like one brand made them.

Consistency compounds. One brilliant campaign followed by twelve forgettable ones is less valuable than a system capable of producing strong work repeatedly. I'd rather build the machine that raises the quality of the work than be the person responsible for every good idea.

In financial services and fintech, creativity has to do more than attract attention. Every visual, verbal and behavioural choice affects credibility. When trust is part of the product, creative leadership becomes a business responsibility, not simply a communications one.