• by Fern Siegel , April 3, 2025

Ioana Filip has a new creative studio — International Waters — launched as an open vision of advertising.

The former global executive creative director at McCann Worldgroup believes top talent hails worldwide, often from nations sidelined as offshore, such as Brazil, India or Romania. There is a bias against such places — an impression she wants to change.

Filip embraces "chartered creativity." Simply, selecting teams per project in order to secure the best skill sets. However, a core team will supervise all business to maintain quality control and consistency.

Filip appreciates global talent, as her career has taken her to various countries. She worked in Chicago for Energy BBDO, ran MRM in London as CCO before her move to McCann.

International Waters is based in Bucharest, with an operations office in the United States. It hopes to have a presence in the MENA (Mideast, North Africa) by 2027.

The new decentralized entity is geared to mid-sized clients with revenues between $20 million and $1 billion. The goal is to build cost-effective partnerships in an ever-changing creative landscape.

Client announcements are expected later this year.