• by Fern Siegel , Yesterday

JOAN named longtime ad executive Gerry Graf as partner-Global Chief Creative Officer. 

Graf joins from Slap Global, the agency he co-founded with Maxi Itzkoff.

“Gerry is one of the most talented, most principled and genuinely most hilarious people I know. He believes what JOAN was built on —  independence is a creative superpower. Having him as my partner going into our next decade doesn’t just feel exciting. It feels like the best decision I’ve made in a very long time,” said Joan CEO Lisa Clunie.

The hire dovetails with JOAN's 10th anniversary. With offices in New York, London and Berlin, the agency's client roster includes eBay Global, WNBA, Brawny and Mohegan Sun. 

“Slap Global is making some of the best work in the world,” said Graf. “The 30 or so people we have are some of the best I've ever worked with. But this opportunity feels like fate. I’m not much into hocus pocus, but Lisa and I talked about starting an agency back in our Saatchi days. It seems like the universe decided now is the time.” 

The multi-award-winning Graf has worked at a variety of agencies, including as a creative director for TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, responsible for Skittles and E*Trade's dancing monkey. He was also Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi NY before founding Barton F. Graf and later Slap Global, which created “No Lay’s No Game” platform for PepsiCo.

His career began at BBDO and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, where he helped create Snickers’ “Not going anywhere for a while?” platform.