TIMOTHY ROSE
Executive Creative Director | Global Brand and Marketing Leader
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Global Executive Creative Director with 20+ years leading integrated campaigns, brand platforms, and experiences across North America, Europe, and Asia. Proven track record shaping brand vision, driving growth, and building high performing creative teams for industry leaders including U.S. Bank, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Amazon, Abbott, Nike, and other global brands.
Expert at connecting strategy, storytelling, digital, experiential, and emerging tech (including AI) to deliver measurable business impact for CPG, healthcare, financial services, tech, and lifestyle brands. Known for clear creative leadership, crisp narrative development, and a collaborative, modern approach to partnering with C-suite and cross functional teams.
CORE STRENGTHS
Executive Creative Leadership and Team Building
Global Brand Strategy and Positioning
Integrated Campaigns (digital, experiential, social, content)
Healthcare, Financial Services, Tech, and CPG Marketing
Concept Development and Creative Direction (film, digital, print, experiential)
Storytelling, Copywriting, and Presentation
Client Partnership, C-suite Alignment, and Stakeholder Management
New Business, Pitch Leadership, and Account Growth
Purpose Driven, ESG, and Sustainability Narratives
AI, Digital Innovation, and Emerging Media
SELECTED GLOBAL BRAND EXPERIENCE
Financial and Healthcare: U.S. Bank, Abbott, GE Healthcare, AbbVie
CPG and Food: Muir Glen, Cascadian Farm, Horizon Organic, Mary’s Gone Crackers, Vitanova Organic, Michael David Winery
Tech and Retail: Amazon, HP, Microsoft Bing, Yahoo!, Nintendo, YouTube
Lifestyle and Beverage: Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Fanta, Evolution Fresh, Anheuser-Busch, Bacardi, Bombay Sapphire, Fila
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Executive Creative Director
Elite Communications Group · Chicago, IL · 2021–Present
Leading the creative vision and execution for an independent agency serving global healthcare and enterprise clients.
Direct multifaceted campaigns and brand initiatives for Abbott, GE Healthcare, Pillar, AbbVie, and other multinational organizations, from early strategy through final delivery.
Shape integrated go to market, brand storytelling, and content ecosystems across digital, video, experiential, and sales enablement.
Build and mentor a high performing creative team, establishing processes for briefing, concepting, and cross functional collaboration with strategy, account, and client stakeholders.
Partner with senior client leaders to clarify positioning, sharpen messaging, and align creative with business objectives, market dynamics, and regulatory environments.
Creative Director / Founder
Creatività · San Francisco, CA / Milwaukee, WI · 2010–2021
Founded and led a distributed collective of top creative talent focused on purpose driven, organic, and natural brands.
Developed integrated experiential, digital, and holistic marketing strategies for clients including Michael David Winery, Vitanova Organic, Mary’s Gone Crackers, and other emerging brands.
Led concept development, brand platforms, and campaign narratives across web, social, content, packaging, and live experiences.
Built and managed a global network of designers, writers, filmmakers, and developers, scaling teams to match client needs and growth.
Creative Director
GMR Marketing (Omnicom) · Milwaukee, WI · 2018–2019
Executive level creative lead for experiential and integrated campaigns.
Directed multidisciplinary teams (design, digital, social, film, production) delivering programs for U.S. Bank, Angostura, Farm to Fork, Aardvark Straws, and others.
Helped expand the U.S. Bank relationship into a multi-million-dollar account, deepening engagement through strategic experiential and sponsorship platforms.
Produced high profile live experiences at The Atlantic Festival, CMA Foundation events, Minnesota Vikings, and NCAA Final Four, integrating digital, social, and on site storytelling.
Co-founder / Creative Director (Nonprofit)
The Answers Project · San Francisco, CA · 2014–2018
Co founded a non profit focused on indigenous cultures, languages, and arts.
Developed the brand, narrative platform, and visual identity for The Answers Project.
Traveled internationally to interview, film, and document indigenous communities, shaping a content library and thought leadership platform around cultural wisdom and sustainability.
Led partnerships with artists, filmmakers, and NGOs to amplify stories across digital channels and live events.
Creative Director
MKTG, Inc. · San Francisco, CA · 2013–2014
Led creative for experiential and digital programs for leading global brands.
Developed integrated, experiential, and digital campaigns for Nike, Amazon, Nintendo, and YouTube, connecting online and live engagement.
Led a major rebrand and multi channel campaign for Mary’s Gone Crackers, evolving the brand story and visual system across packaging, web, and communications.
Global Concept Manager (Brand Creative)
Starbucks · Seattle, WA · 2011–2012
Global creative lead focused on in store storytelling and brand expression.
Developed brand centric art and visual narratives for Starbucks cafés worldwide to support a new global brand identity.
Collaborated with World Press / National Geographic level photographers and artists to redesign in store imagery and elevate the Starbucks visual language.
Played a central role in launching the Evolution Fresh brand and stores, aligning visual identity, retail experience, and brand story.
International Creative Director / Founder (Virtual Agency)
Mangokite · Seattle, WA · 2009–2013
Founded an online agency delivering creative leadership to global tech brands.
Conceived and directed new campaigns for Microsoft Bing and HP, aligning creative ideas with product positioning and global launches.
Built the first in house creative department for Amazon, setting creative standards and processes and helping to launch a national campaign for the Amazon app.
Associate Creative Director
Sterling Rice Group · Boulder, CO · 2005–2008
Senior creative lead for environmental and organic brands.
Led holistic advertising campaigns for Muir Glen, Cascadian Farm, Horizon Organic, and other early ESG focused brands.
Hired, mentored, and managed a team of 30+ creatives across disciplines, establishing a culture of collaboration, craft, and performance.
Creative Director
Publicis · Vienna, Austria · 2003–2005
Global creative lead for Coca-Cola and other major accounts in Europe.
Secured the Coca-Cola account for Publicis and contributed to a 30 percent market share increase across key European markets.
Rebranded the Fanta line for Europe through award winning, youth focused campaigns that modernized the brand voice and visual identity.
Launched the “My Coke Music” program, integrating digital engagement and brand experience across markets.
Creative Director
Zer021 · Turin, Italy · 1999–2003
Creative Director for a fast growing agency serving European and global brands.
Won the Yahoo! Europe account and produced award winning work across 28 markets, driving consistency while allowing for local nuance.
Helped build Zer021 into an award winning regional powerhouse, securing major assignments connected to the Winter Olympics and global lifestyle brands including Bacardi, Fila, and Bombay Sapphire.
SOCIAL IMPACT AND PURPOSE DRIVEN WORK
Throughout his career, Timothy has prioritized ethically minded, eco conscious, and socially responsible brands, partnering with organizations such as Mary’s Gone Crackers, Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen, Vitanova Organic, Horizon Organic, and Evolution Fresh. His work and non profit leadership with The Answers Project and The Organic Council reflect a long standing commitment to sustainability, cultural preservation, and positive social impact.
EDUCATION
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, BFA
AWARDS
Media Key Award: TV Spot “Horn” for Yahoo!
Clio Award: The Children’s Hospital “It’s all better”
AIGA Awards: Promotional Piece
Addy Awards: TV Spot Silver • Compact Disc • Magazine • Promotional Piece • Direct Mail • Poster Design
In 2023, I had the honor to work with mega-influencer, Doctor Mike on a global experiential for Abbott’s Mixed-Reality blood donation. It was a career highlight to be a part of something so important and be able to design work that truly makes a difference.
Not everything I have learned has come from working in advertising. In 2017, I traveled to Borneo to live with the Dayak Ma'anyan people to interview their elders and help preserve their culture.
While leading the Starbucks Global Design team, I hired National Geographic photographer and Nikon spokesperson, Ami Vitale to shoot photojournalistic images in Vietnam, Turkey and Seattle.
One of the highlights of my career was working with Grammy Award winning producer, Keith Olsen, touring Europe with my band, The Sun Sawed in 1/2, and performing at the world-famous Cavern Club in Liverpool. In case you didn’t know, I’m a huge fan of The Beatles.
Behind the scenes at the San Francisco photo shoot for 7 Deadly Zins and Freakshow’s national campaigns.
While I was working in Kyiv, Ukraine at Bates, I stood in for a model who couldn't make the shoot. The caption loosely translates to ""Honey, with these low long-distance rates there is no reason for you to have to fly down and join me."
What People Are Saying About Timothy Behind His Back.
One word...WOW!
Peter Kranner
Managing Director
Publicis Europe - Vienna, Austria
Timothy stepped into our planning sessions for a new year on an 8+ year client, and provided a fresh viewpoint that breathed new creative life into our work. Never before had we seen the clients so thrilled with the results of our designs and build-outs, and we owe that in large part to Timothy's vision.
Pete Durbin
Account Director
GMR Marketing/Omnicom - Chicago
I recommend working with Timothy Rose. He is a masterful concept generator and is very skilled in copy writing, ad design, video execution and creating experiences. He has been very valuable to our organization in client relationships and pitches as the lead creative on a number of initiatives.
Rob Deal
VP, Creative Services, Studio West,
MKTG. Inc - San Francisco
I had the pleasure of working with Tim after he commissioned me for a Starbucks global creative campaign. He has boundless passion and creativity and is well versed in almost every medium. His unique perspectives have created clever campaigns and he has the tenacity and work ethic to bring them to life.
Ami Vitale
World Press Award-Winning Photojournalist, Nikon Spokesperson,
National Geographic
I worked with Tim on several projects ranging from television to print, and he was always a creative force bringing a thoughtful approach to the execution of our creative brief. He is creative, but still allows for collaboration to ensure that the work that gets produced is able to drive the required results.
Vaughn Schermerhorn
Senior Marketing Manager, Brand and Mass Advertising
Amazon - Seattle
He was deeply involved in developing successful campaigns for several clients, notably The Children’s Hospital, CollegeInvest and Horizon Dairy. He also had the main responsibility for broadcast production on those businesses with high quality results, as his reel will attest. Tim is an exceptionally talented musician, composer and music producer and he put those skills to work with very good effect for his clients. Tim is well-traveled, broadly educated, has a flare for language and loves good food. He can be a most engaging companion.
Alan Webb
Senior Creative Director/Partner
Sterling-Rice Group - Boulder, Colorado
Timothy is a creative force, combining a visionary approach with a host of talents. I had the opportunity to experience his leadership on a range of projects and brands including U.S. Bank, Angostura and Aardvark Paper Straws. Timothy strives to get the most out of his teams, and works hard to inspire excellence. He has a knack for sparking ideation, and finding new, relevant ways to tell the brand story. His work speaks for itself.
Ryan Carter
Senior Art Director
GMR/Omnicom - Milwaukee
Introducing Tim into my team brought a real quantum leap for our work in the Publicis office in Vienna. He came at this time directly from Italy, where he had worked for a few years. I hired him based on a recommendation from another creative director whose work I deeply admire. And he was right. Tim didn’t only present absolutely new creative approaches, story lines, great copy concepts or graphic solutions as a very experienced ad-allrounder, no, he was also extremely encouraging and pushing the team spirit with lots of ideas in the field of creative human resources.
Christoph Wanzel
Executive Creative Director
Publicis Groupe - Vienna, Austria
I’ve hired Tim for high-level agency projects for major clients, and for lower-profile personal projects (like designing jackets for my band’s CDs). In every case, he brought a level of creativity and professionalism far beyond my expectations -- which were pretty damned high to begin with. As if that wasn’t awesome enough, he’s a great guy, and I’d work with him again in a heartbeat
Tim Halpin
Creative Director
Arnold Worldwide
Tim is a world traveler, a kindred spirit and a great person to collaborate with on any type of creative endeavor. Always full of energy and big ideas, Tim is someone you can count on to pull out that essential nugget that brings a campaign to life. Great examples of his work include the Schoolhouse Rock-style commercials he did for Horizon Organic Milk and the touching campaign work he did for The Children’s Hospital – including coming up with their “It’s all better” tagline.”
Ben Edwards
Creative Director
Sterling-Rice Group - Boulder, Colorado
Tim Rose’s art direction has star quality. Had he not spent a number of years diverted by pursuing rock and roll, you would already have heard of him, and would have seen his work in the major art direction, advertising and design annuals. Now that he is back focusing on art direction, any agency that wants to produce great work would be wise to grab him. I would myself, but he has his sights set higher and they should be. He has the ability to make his mark at the highest levels of our profession.
Here’s what Tim does exceptionally well:
1. Concept. He understands the difference between a good design and a good idea. And he can create a flurry of great concepts in a stunningly short time.
2. Design. His is often surprising, and is unerringly beautiful. His composition, type and image choices are exquisite.
3. Interaction. Despite his exceptional talent, people like him. He has all the superior talent one needs to become a prima donna, be he hasn’t. He can disagree with you without getting testy and works very well in agency teams, and with clients. He worked directly for me at MK Advertising for five years. His work for me was primarily print, but I can say without hesitation that he has the skill to art direct print, TV or even multimedia projects that will compete nationally and internationally with the finest work.
Paul Maring
Former Partner
Maring + Kanefield, Dovetail - St.Louis
I highly recommend Tim Rose for employment and business opportunities you have with your company. I have worked with Tim directly on several advertising and design projects and found him to be imaginative, resourceful, tenacious and extremely talented. He brings an energy and quality to assignments that improve the results significantly. That, and he’s sure not a bad guy to have a beer with. Please feel free to call me if you want to hear me ramble on in person about how much I enjoy Tim’s work.
Mark Ray
Owner, Principal, Chief Creative
NORTH - Portland
It is my honor to write for Timothy Rose. It was a pleasure for me to work with Tim for one year. Having landed as an alien onto Ukrainian ground, Tim effectively adopted to the new environment. He managed not only to create exciting advertising, but he also improved client-agency relationship. He was beloved by account people in the agency. Tim considerably improved cooperation between creative department in the agency and the rest of the agency team. He also contributed much to the creative culture of the agency. Tim respects deadlines, but does not compromise quality. He was very good in getting the best out of limited resources. Before he left the agency, which was the sad news for all the team, our agency gained an image of one of the most creative agencies in the market.
Yuriy Kogutiak
CEO
Bates Worldwide - Kyiv, Ukraine
This letter is a testimonial to all interested that is was a sincere pleasure working with Timothy Rose during the past two and 1/2 years. Tim is a wonderful art director and creative director, a professional with the capacity not only to work wonderfully but also to improve the quality of the agency atmosphere. To work as his partner was for me a beautiful experience. His vision is always very high and his competence is deep concerning all aspects of advertising. His method to confront the work comes from a profound knowledge of strategy and concept. Maybe his best attribute is to freely let his mind explore new creative approaches, original and unusual. Tim has a unique personal style that has matured over the years and his knowledge of computer graphics, logo design, photography and music are all at the highest level.
Dario Berra
Partner and Creative Director
ZER021 - Italy
I had the honor of briefly working with Tim on a quick-turn project for a very challenging client and was immediately impressed with his level of professionalism, insight, and level-headed approach to the work. He helped enhance and refine the message we were trying to tell the audience, and infused a layer of elegant simplicity into the story-arc. I sincerely hope to have the opportunity to work with Tim again in the future.
Drory Ben-Menachem
Creative Director
Smashing Ideas - Seattle
Tim is extraordinary with his design and creative process. He finds the most unsuspecting elements from within and creates monumental and striking imagery. Tim is an explorer; he hones his craft by engaging in life; traveling is his muse; whether it is exotic foods, cultures, or music. It is all part of the package that makes him unique and unpredictably clever with his design. He has a knack of understanding and finding ways to interpret the most beneficial perspective of everything. Tim is a free spirit with his feet planted deep in the ground. He delivers. He proved himself many times over for Creatives On Call. Winning the hearts of colleagues along the way.
April Koenig
Owner
Creatives on Call - United States
I am recommending a gentleman by the name of Tim Rose. Tim is a terrific art director/creative director who has spent a lot of time working in Europe. I really like Tim. He’s quick, has a great eye and is a good concept person. We use him every time he is in the US. I know how hard it is to find good people.
Bob Cuneo
President
Brado - St.Louis
Tim is a creative director (or art director, if you wish) extraordinaire, combining his talents for conceptual thinking, design, music and the written word, to make advertising that rocks. He is a renaissance man for the 21st century.
Marie Ostarello
Creative Director
Sterling-Rice Group - Boulder, Colorado
I had the pleasure of working with Tim at Sterling-Rice Group as his editor. Tim was continually challenging me on grammar rules, which would seem strange for any ordinary art director, but for Tim, it just shows his level of perfectionism in every single part of the creative process. He must follow it from his first creative spark to the end product, and make sure every i is dotted and every t is crossed. His creativity always astounded me. He thinks on his feet, can come up with creative ideas in the blink of an eye, and constantly hones his craft, learning all he can along the way. It was a sheer pleasure to work with Tim. He would be an asset to any company. Just make sure the editor is well skilled or he or she will run screaming from the building.
Sandi Pearce
Editor
Crispin Porter + Bogusly - Boulder, Colorado
To whom it may concern: Tim Rose is a VEEERY creative, multi-talented and passionate person, where you can feel that he loves his job and does it by heart in a professional way. I have loved and enjoyed to work with him, he was always a fair, constructive and helpful partner. It’s a pleasure to know him and he s an interesting character. I would employ him without any doubt.
Christian Pott
Creative Director
Publicis Europe - Vienna, Austria
Its been a pleasure working with Tim at MKTG. He's added greatly to Mary's Gone Crackers with highly effective advertising concepts, comprehensive brand guidelines, film production and sophisticated selling presentations. Tim is well versed in the needs of progressive CPG companies.
Joe Glorfield
Executive Vice President
Mary's Gone Crackers - California
We thoroughly enjoy having Tim as part of the team here at MKTG. His passion and energy are contagious and our clients have been impressed by his work. He has worked on our Nike and Mary's Gone Crackers business consistently and has performed at a high level.
Patty Hubbard
President West Coast
MKTG. Inc.- San Francisco
Tim provided invaluable amounts of insight and creative energy to our team, churning out endless hours of energetic work that repeatedly blew the socks off our clients. Tim was as valuable in a pitch as he was with a pen (or mouse), and was one of the most dynamic forces on our team, seamlessly shifting between copy, visuals, and big picture strategy day after day. It's not every day that people have the opportunity to work with someone like Tim Rose, and I envy the team that is lucky enough to have him
Richard Tubman
Digital Director
MKTG. Inc. - San Francisco
I had the awesome pleasure of working with Tim on a recent campaign at MKTG Inc. that encompassed print ads, video, and more. As a Creative Director, he gives spot-on guidance, has fantastic insight, and knows just the right tweaks to take the work to the next level. He’s an insanely gifted writer and art director, has a great sense of humor, stays refreshingly calm under pressure, and has an infectious passion and drive for creating kick-ass creative work that resonates.
Stephanie Orma
Copywriter / Design & Travel Writer / Illustrator
Travel & Leisure Magazine - San Francisco
In April, 2018, I was invited to work on a pitch for the Norwegian furniture company, Stressless through the Tombras agency in Knoxville. Here, I'm directing the film shoot.