Guillermo Vega Joins Saatchi & Saatchi London as CCO

Saatchi & Saatchi London has hired Guillermo Vega, the former ECD of 72andSunny New York, as its chief creative officer.

Joining on October 1, Vega will lead the agency’s creative department and build on its existing creative success. His appointment completes the Saatchi & Saatchi London management team, alongside Sam Hawkey (chief operating officer), Richard Huntington (chief strategy officer) and Larissa Vince (managing director).

Across his career, Vega has a track record of growing agencies in established markets while delivering award-winning and successful creative work. He has worked across disciplines and channels for world leading brands including Nike, Coca-Cola, Levi’s, Samsung and Old Spice.

Most recently, he set up and established 72andSunny New York, the network’s third and fastest-growing office, working across clients such as Samsung and Smirnoff.

Before that, Vega was one of three founders of Wieden & Kennedy São Paolo, where he spent three and a half years as Executive Creative Director, growing the agency from 3 employees to more than 100 by winning clients including Nike, Coca-Cola and Heineken.

He has also worked at Y&R as regional creative director, overseeing Latin America from the network’s HQ in New York.

Vega’s work for major brands has been highly awarded both domestically and internationally, with more than 200 awards at the major creative festivals, including Cannes, D&AD, The Clios and The One Show.

Creative highlights include Land Rover “Safe Inside,” Samsung “Rihanna ANTIdiaRy,” and “LeBron” and his “Rabbits” campaign for Tulipan.

Vega will report to Magnus Djaba and Kate Stanners.

Stanners said: “The role of CCO of Saatchi London has to be one of the best jobs in the business, so we used the opportunity to talk to the best creative talent in the world. Guillermo is that person – and he brings a unique mix of skill as a creative and experience as a creative director. He has been personally responsible for an extraordinary body of award-winning work and has set up agencies in both Brazil and New York. I believe he has the talent, energy and passion to lead Saatchi & Saatchi London and take it to the next level.  

Djaba said: “The best things in life are worth waiting for. We went looking for someone with a relentless drive to discover new possibilities, someone who could lead our industry as well as our agency. We couldn’t be more excited.”

Vega said: “When I met the Saatchi team I instantly felt that this was the right team to join.  Their passion, talent and the history of the agency made it a no brainer.

“I’m ready to explore London and make this experience fun, exciting and memorable - and make some great work. Thanks for having me here.”