Johannes Leonardo is an advertising agency based in New York City founded in November 2007.[1] The firm is 25 percent owned by WPP plc.[2]
Industry | Advertising, Marketing |
---|---|
Founded | 2007 |
Headquarters | New York, New York, , United States |
Area served | World Wide |
Key people | Jan Jacobs, founder and co-chief creative officer, Leo Premutico, founder and co-chief creative officer, Ferdinando Verderi, founder and partner |
Website | johannesleonardo |
The firm's creative philosophy is inspired by the phrase “the consumer is the medium”, originally coined by the founders when they started the agency.[3][4]
Johannes Leonardo was founded in 2007 by Jan Jacobs and Leo Premutico, former Executive Creative Directors at Saatchi & Saatchi and Ferdinando Verderi.[5]
The firm quadrupled its revenue between 2007 and 2010 growing from 4 to 50 employees.[6] In 2011, the firm expected revenue to be up 120% from 2010 and was honored as the "creme de la creme" across the WPP network for its work with WNYC Radio.[7]
In 2014, the firm moved its headquarters to new offices in SoHo, Manhattan.[6][8]
From 2015 to 2016, Johannes Leonardo saw a 40% increase in revenue and 27% increase in headcount.[9]
In 2016, the firm hired former Droga5 Global Business Director Bryan Yasko as president.[10]
Since 2016, the agency more than doubled in size to 104 people and saw revenue soar 82 percent from $14 million in 2016 to $26 million.[11]
In 2010, Johannes Leonardo's Google “Demo Slam” campaign invited consumers to create their own Google tech demonstrations to showcase Google's latest product innovations and received nearly one billion impressions.[12]
In 2012, the firm collaborated again with Google for its "Project Re:Brief" campaign, reconceptualizing classic ads from Volvo, Alka-Seltzer, Avis, and Coca-Cola.[13][14] The campaign was awarded the inaugural Mobile Grand Prix in 2012.[15]
In 2017, the “Original is Never Finished” campaign for Adidas Originals, led by a 90-second spot reimagining the Frank Sinatra song “My Way” and featuring Snoop Dogg, Petra Collins, Dev Hynes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and others was awarded the top prize at the Cannes Lions Festival in the Entertainment for Music category.[16][17] The agency's work for adidas Originals garnered over 30 awards in 2017 across Cannes, D&AD and The One Show.[18]
Johannes Leonardo's other clients include The Coca-Cola Company,[citation needed] Vroom.com,[citation needed] Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company,[citation needed] Amazon Fire TV,[citation needed] New York City FC,[citation needed] Alexander Wang (designer),[citation needed] and Bleacher Report.[citation needed]
In 2011, Johannes Leonardo was featured as the “Agency to Watch” in both AdAge's and Creativity's Agency A-Lists.[19]
In 2011, Johannes Leonardo won AdAge Small Agency of the Year, Silver.[7]
In 2016, the firm was recognized on Ad Age's 2016 A-List Agencies to Watch.[20]
In 2018, Johannes Leonardo was named the No. 4 agency on AdAge's Agency A-List, a ranking of the nation's top 10 advertising agencies.[21]
Johannes Leonardo has been awarded 14 Cannes Lions since 2007, including the inaugural Cannes Mobile Grand Prix for Google's Project Re: Brief and, in 2017, the Grand Prix in the Entertainment for Music category for “Original is Never Finished” for adidas Originals.[22][17]