Award-Winning Ad Industry Exec and Former Leo Burnett North American Chief Creative Officer and CEO of Canada Will Lead Firm’s Creative Network
Edelman has named renowned marketer Judy John as its first-ever global chief creative officer, effective April 29. John, the visionary behind the Always #LikeAGirl global phenomenon, will lead Edelman’s Creative network, made up of more than 600 creatives and planners globally. She will be based in Toronto and report to Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman.
"Judy believes in earned creative that is social by design, fast enough to suit the news cycle and helps to spark movements,” said Edelman. “Our goal isn’t to do traditional advertising because earned creative, which allows consumers to carry the story forward themselves, is the new frontier. We want to lead creative when brands are looking to make societal impact and serve as agents of change."
John joins Edelman from Leo Burnett, where she was most recently CEO of Canada and chief creative officer of North America. Since leading for Canada and North America, Leo Burnett Toronto has been honored with nearly every industry award, including an Emmy for Outstanding Commercial; a Titanium, Grand Prix and Glass Lion at the Cannes Lions Festival; and the first-ever Digital Black Pencil at D&AD. In 2015 Always #LikeAGirl was named by CBS as one of the top three Super Bowl Commercials of all time, and in 2017 the IKEA Cook This Page program was named one of the Top 10 Most Awarded Campaigns in the World.
At Leo Burnett, John also led a number of major efforts including Amazon’s first Super Bowl commercial, Samsung’s first global Olympic campaign and Blackberry’s first global campaign. Before joining Leo Burnett, she worked at a mix of independent shops and multinationals.
Edelman has served as creative lead on a number of campaigns for brands like HP (Family Portraits), Dove (Real Beauty Productions), the WNBA (Take a Seat, Take a Stand), ASICS (Blackout Track), Sunkist (We Were There) and Adobe’s Make the Cut, which won two Bronze Lions at Cannes. The agency also played a major role in the REI #OptOutside campaign, which earned the Titanium Lion at Cannes in 2016.
Over the past two-and-a-half years, Edelman has bolstered its creative firepower, hiring scores of creatives and planners, including Andrew Simon, chief creative officer, Toronto, formerly of DDB; Mattias Ronge, CEO of Edelman Deportivo; Stefan Ronge, chief creative officer, Europe; Jimmie Stone, chief creative officer, New York, formerly of McCann; Steve Slivka, chief creative officer, Chicago, formerly of Mullen; Tom Parker, chief creative officer, West Coast, formerly of Ogilvy; Megan Skelly, executive creative director, New York; formerly of R/GA and McGarryBowen; Michelle Franzoia, executive creative director, San Francisco, formerly of Yahoo; and Rogerio Gonçalves, senior director Creative, Sao Paulo, formerly of Y&R.
Throughout her career, John has garnered a number of personal honors. She was named Marketer of the Year by the Canadian Marketing Association in 2016, becoming the first agency person to win the award. John was ranked the No. 1 CCO in the world in Advertising Age's Awards Report 2015 and was named to Business Insider's 30 Most Creative People in Advertising. She was also named to Advertising Age's Creativity 50 2014: The Most Creative People of the Year.
John has been a speaker at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the 3% Conference and at TedXDownsviewWomen. John has also served as a judge in top international awards shows, including chairing juries at Cannes, The Clios, ADC and D&AD.
John sits on the Board of Directors of The One Club, the Ad Council’s Creative Review Committee and the Advisory Board for Girl Culture Films.