Ruxandra Papuc Joins AIN’T as Global Executive Creative Director and Partner

Starting April, Ruxandra Papuc, internationally renowned and awarded creative, former executive creative director McCann WorldGroup Romania, officially joins the independent agency AIN’T. In her new role as global executive creative director and partner, she will partner up with the CCO Jorg Riommi to lead the creative department in reaching its objectives and putting AIN’T on the successful international agencies’ map.

With the headquarter in Milan, Italy and working globally, AIN’T’s core business is creative strategy, Creative Ideation on all media (from video to digital to activation and stunts to experimental to 360 integrated and everything in between) and production, also having a world class leg in both traditional and AI production. Its teams work per project, in agile and flexible mode and assemble ad hoc the best international specialists (often award winning), according to the specific task.

“We are happy and excited to welcome Ruxandra in AIN’T core team as ECD and partner and I’m looking forward to working closely with her to deliver further outstanding creative work in CEE and globally under AIN’T vision. I have known Ruxandra for many years now and I’m a fan of her work and approach: she embodies AIN’T values being bold, direct and with the relevant edge,” said Jorg Riommi, AIN’T’s founder and chief creative officer.

On top of that, he points out that he believes Papuc is a great advocate and a perfect example to look up to when it comes to women leadership in the creative industry, which he deeply believes in and supports.

“As AIN’T grows and develops its global clients reach, having her on board and Bucharest based will ensure not only a local foot on the ground for clients with ambitions in CEE and beyond, but also lock the triangle with AIN’T Milan headquarter and Paris - where our global client lead Ivanna Skulska Lowe is based – strengthening our global architecture,” added Jorg Riommi.

With hundreds of successful campaigns for the biggest international brands such as Coca-Cola, Mastercard, Vodafone and many more, Ruxandra has brought home dozens of the biggest awards out there, including Cannes Lions, Eurobest, One Show, Andy, Golden Drum and Effie Europe. Her work is featured in the film archives of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and she takes pride in being part of international advertising and film juries, including Cannes Lions.

She can't wait for the day when woman leadership will be so common she won't have to be a fierce advocate for it, which she had the opportunity to do with Cannes Lions’ See it, be it and more. As a speaker she also hosts masterclasses and seminaries on creative processes, being a friend of advertising schools and industry events around the world.

“I’ve always admired Jorg’s vision. We’ve been competitors for a long time but we would meet in festivals judging together, sharing the same passion for great work. Also for dry humour, Italian food and Romanian spirits. But that story will come later. When the opportunity arose to team up for the very reason of developing great work, with the agility of a challenger agency, in an indie network, it just seemed like it was meant to be. AIN’T defies the old ways of ad agencies for the sole purpose of nurturing the best creativity for the best results. We collaborate with a great pool of talent from across the globe to deliver ideas with thunder for our partners. This philosophy charmed me in an instant: the work we do has impact and then it resonates, just like a thunder. I love it! So, together with Jorg and Ivanna, I’m now here to take the industry by storm. We AIN’T an agency, we are talent, passion and knowledge coming together for work that we believe you’ll be reading about in many articles to follow,” said Ruxandra Papuc, executive creative director and partner AIN’T.

On her turn, Ivanna Skulska-Lowe, global client lead AIN’T, added, “In AIN’T we focus on deep collaboration with clients and strategic creativity to build solutions that resonate. By addressing each brand’s unique needs, we deliver quick, tailored campaigns that connect with audiences. With a streamlined, transparent approach, our bold creativity goes beyond paid media to capture attention and leave a lasting impact, helping each brand’s voice stand out in meaningful ways”.