Chris Rowson to Lead Creative at MullenLowe New York

Chris Rowson will join MullenLowe New York as executive creative director, rounding out the growing agency’s leadership team, which includes managing director Rebekah Pagis and head of strategy Jonny Gadd. Rowson joins MullenLowe from TBWA\Chiat\Day, where, as ECD he founded the agency’s award-winning design agency, Design by Disruption.

“With the world and our industry going through so much transformation right now, what a time to start this role and use new thinking to further grow MullenLowe New York. I’m excited to use the power of creativity and craft to help our clients succeed and even use it to fix some of the world’s shortcomings,” said Rowson. “From the first time I met Rebekah and Jonny, there was an incredible energy and excitement about building the creative agency of the future. They’re passionate, brave, and extremely progressive thinkers.”

Prior to TBWA\Chiat\Day, he spent seven transformative years at Ogilvy, in both the Paris and New York offices, working as a creative director while building design and maker teams. He originally hails from the UK and has always embraced untraditional ways of working - from his design-first thinking, such as creative workshops over creative reviews, to forging opportunities for talent by being open to soaking up knowledge from all perspectives and generations. He was an integral part of TBWA\Chiat\Day NY’s most successful year ever at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, helping the agency win 18 Lions (including five Gold and 10 Silver). He was also ranked as the #2 ECD in the world at last year’s One Club Awards Rankings.

Some of his most notable work includes Columbia Journalism Review’s 'The Fake News Stand', McDonald's '50 Years of Big Mac' (both 'Big Mac 50 Posters' and 'MacCoin'), Thomson Reuters’ 'Unboxing the Truth', New York Pride’s 'Type with Pride', Scrabble’s 'Scrabble: Free WiFi' and IBM’s Smarter Outdoor'. Rowson has a passion for mentoring, training, and creating a pipeline for diverse talent. He’s taught at D&AD New Blood Shift New York, a free, industry led night school program aimed at reaching young, diverse talent. He’s also given talks at D&AD New Blood Shift London and the Roger Hatchuel Academy at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.   

Rowson will help create and visually express the unique personality of MullenLowe New York. Clients based out of New York include E*TRADE, JetBlue, Unilever, Edgewell, and William Hill, among others. The office most recently was awarded duties for reintroducing Lifebuoy to the U.S. with its MullenLowe Group lead, Lowe Lintas. 

He will report to Dave Weist and Tim Vaccarino, executive creative directors at MullenLowe, who said: “Chris brings both craft and effectiveness to his work. With a gateway to MullenLowe Group’s global network and now a third leg to the leadership tripod, New York has nothing but runway ahead.”