GERETY TALKS: North American Creativity

Gerety Talks North American Creativity with Faten Alshazly, co-founder and chief creative officer at WeUsThem, CANADA, Robin Fitzgerald, chief creative officer at BBDO Atlanta, USA and Jessica Apellaniz, chief creative officer for Mexico & Latam, Ogilvy, MEXICO.

Faten is the founder and chief creative officer of WeUsThem, a full-service ad agency with a client roster that includes Telus, Nestlé and Cambridge University, among others. She is one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, named Executive of the Year and most recently Entrepreneur of the Year, 1 of 5 Women of Inspiration, a Woman of Influence, a Woman of Excellence and a Diva of Color most recently in 2020. As part of her work in the community, Faten currently serves on the boards Efficiency One, the Halifax Chamber of Commerce and the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia. 

Jessica is one of very few women in a creative leading role across LATAM. An experienced jury member across the main award shows, she was responsible for winning the first D&AD Pencil for Mexico and has won at Cannes every year since her young days as a creative director. Her ability to craft tailor-made, multidisciplinary teams for each of her clients is one of her best assets. In fact, that is how she got her first VP position managing global accounts such as Heineken, Citibank and BMW. More recently, at Ogilvy, Jess has done the same with Coca-Cola, BP, Mazda and Aeromexico (Latin America) with unrivaled success.

Robin Fitzgerald is chief creative officer at BBDO Atlanta, where she oversees work for every client. Since her appointment, the agency’s creative reputation has grown along with its trophy case. From 2019 through 2020, the agency brought home more than 75 industry awards. Before making the move to Atlanta, she spent 15 years in Los Angeles, working at Crispin Porter + Bogusky and TBWA\Chiat\Day, where she got to work on everything from BMW’s Mini and Netflix to Gatorade, Nissan, Kraft and more. At BBDO, brand partners include the Georgia Lottery, HoneyBaked Ham, Voya, Bayer and AT&T as well as non-profits, Street Grace and The King Center. She has been named one of Business Insider’s 'Most Creative People in Social Media Marketing' as well as 'Most Creative Women in Advertising.'