• by Fern Siegel , May 24, 2024

WPP's Ogilvy has hired Wes Phelan as executive creative director to support the New York office. He will oversee key regional and global clients, such as Verizon, CeraVe, Coca-Cola and Powerade.

Previously, Phelan worked as an executive creative director at Goodby Silverstein & Partners. His most recent work included the 2024 Super Bowl commercials "Talkin’ Like Walken" for BMW and "Having a Blast" for Mountain Dew, as well as Adobe Photoshop’s "Creativity For All."

Prior to GS&P, he was a creative director at Johannes Leonardo, working on Adidas, Originals and TripAdvisor. Adidas’ "Original is Never Finished" campaign received the Cannes Lions Grand Prix in Music Entertainment and the Clio Sports Grand Prix for Film.

Originally from South Africa, Phelan began his career as one of the country’s youngest creative directors at MetropolitanRepublic, a WPP company in Johannesburg.

Samira Ansari, chief creative officer of Ogilvy New York, said Phelan was "someone who knows how to bring brands into culture with the absolute best of them. Ogilvy New York is all about upping the creative bar in the network and the entire industry, divine discontent at its finest. Wes will be integral to our continued success."

Phelan has since been recognize as a top creative director in the Cannes Game Changers book and exhibition, highlighting 60 years of industry-transforming advertising.