about

I have specialized in multi-discipline creative for over 20 years, my experience has included working in the US and the UK markets, and on global projects for some of the world's largest brands.

I was born and raised in the UK, starting my career in 1996 as an intern at the London office of global branding icons, Landor Associates. In 2009 I made the jump to the US as part of an agency team purposely built to service a new $2BN grocery chain, based in Los Angeles. I stepped out to run my own boutique agency, before being recruited to lead the creative for an ever-larger series of agencies.

I’ve used this global experience to cross the gamut of creative needs, working on projects that include; advertising, branding, content, packaging and traditional marketing, producing a wide-range of deliverables and 360º campaigns for varied and ambitious clients.

I excel in understanding the market and the client's needs, while curating and leading talented professionals to deliver innovative work for clients of all sizes.

recent

My most recent role – as AMP Agency's Group Creative Director – was to re-shape the Los Angeles location’s creative offering, bringing my extensive experience and leadership to multiple areas of the business.

As part of this overhaul, my contributions lead to a $6.7MM increase of combined account growth and new business wins, based on bigger picture ideation and high-end creative execution.

In this time, we built 360º campaigns that utilized content, branding, campaign, UI/UX and experiential channels.

Under my guidance, a newly refreshed agency team delivered progressive, imaginative and effective creative for clients including Caesars Rewards, Maruchan, Backwoods, Coway, Allergan, SkinMedica, DiamondGlow, Dierbergs, TripAdvisor, Facebook and LinkedIn among others.

Working alongside Mike has been an extremely positive experience. He is a terrifically talented GCD, always able to cut through the noise and discover insightful and effective creative solutions.

As a creative leader, he unified a previously disjointed group into a powerhouse creative team. Mike is one of the best creative partners I've worked alongside.

james herrera
Director, Experience Strategy
AMP Agency
Los Angeles, CA

At Splash, we sought Mike out to take on the newly formed Creative Director role, as we were making a shift in our business to a creative-driven model.

We needed someone that could oversee all aspects of the creative process, including re-building the studio team, implementing best practices and process, while delivering high-quality creative solutions to a series of varied and demanding clients.

We made a great choice in Mike, as he re-invigorated so much more than just the deliverables – leading his new team of creatives to produce great work, and quickly gaining our client's trust, not just with the creative itself, but also with a calm, can-do attitude to each project’s challenges.

dan ostrander
Founder/Managing Partner
Splash Worldwide
Portland, OR