Rafael Santamarina Named New CCO Of Grey Spain

After the appointment of Maximo Lorenzo as the new CEO of Grey Spain, the agency has announced that Rafael Santamarina is joining to lead as Chief Creative Officer from 18th August. These new hires represent an important leadership change for the agency.

"I am passionate about the possibility of building a working culture," says Santamarina, "to make the agency a place where creatives want to be, and that clients want to be part of. Additionally, being aligned in our thinking as well as a shared desire and ambition to make things happen, makes Máximo the ideal partner to tackle this challenge.”

It is not the first time that Santamarina has worked in Spain, having held the same position in Publicis Spain several years ago. Reflecting on his experience, he explains: "It's a market that I know and like a lot. Creativity and humour are part of the culture there, which is evident in the way people enjoy life. This makes the relationship between consumers and brands easier."

Santamarina has extensive industry experience, having worked for agencies including Ponce, Ogilvy and Santo Buenos Aires, and has award-winning and world-renowned campaigns in his repertoire such as ‘Early Transpiration’ for Axe, ‘Someday they will understand’ for Schweppes, and ‘We do not have cheap dreams’ for Primitiva in Spain. "I have been lucky to work with very talented people, which for me is the most important capital you take from a place. To be able to learn and then apply knowledge in a work process," he says.

Alain Groenendaal, President and CEO of Grey Europe, comments on his hiring: "Rafael is a great talent. He is capable of identifying good ideas and turning them into an engine to grow the client's business. He is also a very good motivator and can drive the agency to always look for those great ideas and ways to make them possible." He adds: "I am convinced that Máximo and the whole team are going to take Grey Spain to another level."