Ogilvy New York appoints Wes Phelan Executive Creative Director
Ogilvy has announced that Wes Phelan has joined the network as executive creative director to support the growing business needs and creative vision of the agency’s New York office.
In this new role, Wes will oversee and shape the creative output for several of the office’s key regional and global clients. Phelan represents the latest standout creative hire for the office under the leadership of president Darla Price and chief creative officer Samira Ansari, and amid such recent campaign work as Verizon’s ‘Can’t Be Broken,’ CeraVe’s ‘Michael CeraVe’, Total by Verizon’s ‘Totalmente’, Coca-Cola’s ‘Recycle Me and Powerade’s ‘The Vault’.
Samira Ansari, CCO, Ogilvy New York: “Where to start with Wes, when he’s not only a master of storytelling and aesthetic, but 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, and I know Wes will be integral to our continued success."
Wes: “There’s a few set things I’ve wanted across my career, like playing with the best creative squads in the business, being part of inspired and mentorship-rich cultures, and getting to do work that forms memorable connections for people. I’m blown away by what Ogilvy is doing, and I’m so excited to be part of this powerhouse New York team and global network.”
Phelan joins Ogilvy from Goodby Silverstein & Partners, where some of 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 award-winning ‘Creativity For All’.
Before Goodby Silverstein & Partners, he contributed significantly at Johannes Leonardo, working on prominent accounts like Adidas, Originals and TripAdvisor, driving an innovative approach to brand-building that drove both business growth and a range of international accolades including for Adidas’ 'Original is Never Finished’ campaign, which received the Cannes Lions Grand Prix in Music Entertainment and the Clio Sports Grand Prix for Film.
From South Africa, Phelan’s career first began to ascend as one of the country’s youngest creative directors at MetropolitanRepublic, a WPP company in Johannesburg, and he has since been recognized as a top creative director by Adweek’s Creative 100, and in the Cannes Game Changers book and exhibition highlighting 60 years of industry-transforming advertising.
Through and beyond his agency achievements, his passion for film is evident in his direction of commercials, short films and music videos. He’s collaborated with leading cultural influencers including Pharrell Williams, Snoop Dog, 21 Savage, Playboi Carti, Pusha T, Stormzy, David Beckham, Rita Ora, Joey Badass, Damian Lillard, Dua Lipa, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, A$ap Ferg, Dev Hynes, James Harden, Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, Salma Hayek, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Christopher Walken, Nick Offerman and Audrey Plaza.
Phelan joins Ogilvy upon recently being recognized by WARC as the World’s Most Creative Agency Network and World’s Most Effective Creative Network for consecutive years, Ad Age’s Global Network of the Year, The Clio Awards’ Network of the Year, D&AD Awards’ and Fast Company’s list of World’s Most Innovative Companies for the second year in a row.
