Johannes Leonardo Names Andrew Dawson Chief Strategy Officer

Creative agency Johannes Leonardo announced today the appointment of Andrew Dawson as Chief Strategy Officer, a new position that further bolsters the agency’s leadership team under agency co-founders and chief creative officers, Jan Jacobs and Leo Premutico.

In this role, Dawson will lead and continue to evolve the agency’s strategy offering, working across Johannes Leonardo’s roster of clients that include adidas Originals, Google, Mondelēz International, TripAdvisor, Coca-Cola and The Bezos Family Foundation. He is also charged with helping to develop the agency’s brand, business and culture.

"If you don't get the strategy right, nothing else you do matters. Therefore, our bar for CSO has always been high. Andrew fits the bill,” said Premutico. “His experience outside of communications strategy and in building brands, from both sides of the fence, will be a tremendous asset for our partners' businesses and our own."

Prior to joining Johannes Leonardo, Dawson was co-founder of luxury audio company, Master & Dynamic. Leading the strategic vision of the company, his responsibilities also included a blend of tasks across every aspect of the company such as brand development, product architecture, as well as business and product development. While there, Dawson helped build the startup from inception to a 15-person company with products now sold at the Apple Store and in luxury fashion boutiques around the world. The brand’s premium headphones have received rave reviews from influential publications such as Wired, Forbes, Esquire and Fast Company.

Before Master & Dynamic, Dawson led strategy at a number of creative consultancies and think tanks, where he developed brand strategy and innovation for clients such as Bloomberg, Chobani, Citi, E-Trade, Johnson & Johnson, Land Rover, Pepsi, PWC, Victoria’s Secret, Levis and Weight Watchers.

Earlier in his career, Dawson spent time in the agency world in planning roles at well-known agencies including R/GA (Assurant, J&J, Pepsi, SCJ and Walmart); McCann Erikson on the Army account, and Draftfcb (MILK, Nokia, and SCJ).

“Johannes Leonardo has a culture of people who actually listen to each other and their clients,” said Dawson. “They utilize strategy not as a meeting theater element but as an active guide to making more effective and interesting work. I look forward to scaling a very craft-driven and high-touch relationship model while keeping every last ounce of our creativity and passion for each of the businesses we work on.”

Dawson’s appointment is the latest hire in Johannes Leonardo’s effort to build a holistic management team of varying skill sets.