Rony Castor Joins OKRP as Group Creative Director

OKRP is strengthening its creative leadership team as it brings Rony Castor onboard as group creative director overseeing its Metro by T-Mobile account. The multi-award winning Rony, named 2022 AdColor’s One Club Creative honouree of the Year, is joining from Goodby Silverstein & Partners where as creative director, he led work on some of the most recognisable brands in the world including Pepsico, BMW, KraftHeinz, Xfinity, The Golden State Warriors and Courageous Conversation Global Foundation.

“It is not every day that you have the opportunity to hire a world class talent like Rony, one who has been celebrated across the industry from Adweek’s Creative 100 to Adage’s 40 Under 40, to Fast Company’s Innovation by Design,” noted Tom O’Keefe, CEO of OKRP.

Rony will take the lead on the Metro by T-Mobile account, which the agency won earlier this year, becoming its largest account. OKRP’s ‘Nada Yada Yada’ idea has been embraced as a brand platform by Metro, becoming both a business and advertising imperative. Rony will oversee an integrated and growing team of creatives working across all aspects of Metro’s business including numerous native Spanish-speaking creatives. He was lured to OKRP by ECD’s Ben Pfutzenreuter and Matt McNulty whom he had worked with at Goodby.

“Rony is a changemaking creative leader who has not only won nearly every award imaginable, but more importantly, has delivered impact driving work for the great brands he has touched,” added Matt McNulty, ECD at OKRP. “We are excited to have him onboard now at OKRP.”

“There’s a lot to love and look forward to - the freedom that comes with an independent agency, the diversity of the people at OKRP and the potential to make great things on a larger cultural scale with our partners at Metro,” said Rony. “And on top of all that I’m really excited to help continue the impactful work that Putney is creating and build on the agency’s initiatives like Black Shop Friday, and help steer the ship, pushing the boundaries on where it can go.” (Putney was created by OKRP as an independent, minority owned creative collective).

Rony has co-created numerous thought-provoking social justice campaigns for Courageous Conversations Global Foundation. His “Not a Gun” campaign was honoured by Fast Company’s ‘Innovation in Design’ and ‘World Changing Ideas,’ named by Ad Age as Campaign of the Year, and winner of the Grand Ogilvy award. His recent work for Courageous Conversations, “Driving While Black,” has garnered widespread acclaim. His work has been seen on the Super Bowl and extends beyond traditional advertising including a romantic audiobook about juice, newspapers that turn into protest signs, an episodic YouTube cartoon series, and a Car Wash that became an ASMR experience during the pandemic – among many other brand ideas.

Prior to GS&P, Rony, who is a Chicago native, worked at a variety of Chicago agencies including DDB, FCB, Commonground (now Ten35), Havas and Burrell, working on such global brands as Toyota, McDonald’s, Nissan, Mountain Dew, Jack Daniel’s, Michelob Ultra, FanDuel, Wingstop, Coors Light and many more.