Jay Gelardi Joins Phenomenon as Executive Creative Director

Global creative leader Jay Gelardi has joined Phenomenon in the newly created role of Executive Creative Director. The addition of Gelardi as ECD will help Phenomenon’s creative leadership keep pace with its rapid growth and strengthens its continued pursuit of creating firsts on behalf of its clients. Gelardi’s channel-agnostic creativity is a perfect match for Phenomenon, as the agency operates deep inside the C-Suite, working not just with Chief Marketing Officers, but also with Founders, Chief Executive Officers, Presidents, Chief Sales Officers and Chief Technology Officers. 

"Jay has a deep history at the best digital and integrated agencies in the world and shares our love of doing work that is a first in every way,” said Chris Adams, Chief Creative Officer of Phenomenon. “His collaborative nature and dedication to craft will help us live up to our goal of creating ideas that are next level, or nothing. We hired Jay for his creative capabilities, but we love him for his optimism, positive energy and collaborative spirit.”

Most recently Executive Creative Director at Huge LA, Gelardi has a two-decade-long career of diverse experience, moving seamlessly from traditional agencies to non-traditional ones. He developed many award-winning campaigns including LetGo’s “Commercializer,” Intel’s “Intelligent Sounds,” Boost Mobile’s “Stay Living,” OAK MILK’s “Reverse Robberies” and Diageo’s “Mixionary.” Notably, Gelardi held Executive Creative Director positions at Crispin Porter + Bogusky in three different offices – first Boulder, then London followed by Miami. Gelardi’s broad-ranging experience includes Digital Creative Director at The Monkeys, Sydney, and pioneering digital work at Agency Republic, London. His additional brand experience includes Smirnoff, Amazon, Adidas, Mercedes, PlayStation, IKEA, BBC and Samsung.

“Phenomenon is one of the fastest growing business transformation agencies, and Jay’s strong track record of brand-transforming ideas is exactly what we look for in a candidate,” said Erica Hoholick, President of Phenomenon. “We are building an agency that is perfectly primed for this exact moment – when clients are looking for new partners who understand how to solve real business issues through strategy, creative and innovation.”

“I was drawn to Phenomenon because it partners with such a wide range of clients looking to answer a diverse set of questions,without preconceived notions of how to answer them,” said Gelardi. “I’ve always been of the mindset that the most creatively effective solutions arise when you can solve problems with total freedom to innovate.”