MARKS HIRES KURT KRETTEN AS GLOBAL CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER

CHICAGO, IL – October 5, 2021 – Marks, part of SGS & Co, one of the world’s largest brand experience agencies, has retained multi-disciplinary creative leader Kurt Kretten as its new Global Chief Creative Officer. Previously Executive Creative Director and Head of Design and Content for brand experience firm, GLOW, a Digiday Agency of the Year, Mr. Kretten’s leadership of assignments for megabrands Spotify, HBO, Showtime, The NBA and AppleTV+ netted the agency a Cannes Lion Gold, among other awards. As Chief Creative Officer for Marks, Kretten will set the standard for creative and drive a culture of creativity throughout the 600-person shop, with responsibilities for design excellence and building a positive, inclusive, diverse and empowered design team.

            “Kurt is the exact leader Marks needs now to inspire trust, creative excellence and to add richness and depth of design insight to our agency and clients across the globe”, noted Rob McCarthy, President, Marks.  “His deep experience leading multi-disciplinary teams, understanding of the fast-moving consumer goods space and new media, coupled with his drive, passion and accessibility make him ideal for this role”.  Kurt will lead Marks deep bench of Creative talent in North America and Western Europe.  “Our people have worked tirelessly and have helped us achieve significant global growth over the last three years”, McCarthy added.

            With a colorful career in design, branding and content, Mr. Kretten has held senior creative leadership roles at brand incubator Social Studies, CBX New York, Future Brand, LPK and at TildenNYC, where he formed their Design & Content division.  The breadth of his work includes extensive experience in package design, product design, brand innovation, digital, retail experience, content and film in a wide swath of categories for the largest brands in the world, from Google to Coca-Cola to The Home Depot to Taco Bell and Wrangler. Mr. Kretten has been recognized throughout his career for his compelling, stimulating and breakthrough creative with multiple Effie’s, Clio’s and Shorty Awards, among others. 

About MARKS

Marks, a part of SGS & Co, is one of the world’s largest brand experience agencies, delivering global vision with local relevance from Chicago and New York to London, Paris & Singapore, through 21 studios in 11 countries and 600 people. Brands benefit from Marks connectedness, relentless curiosity, vulnerability and unconventional thinking in designing agile and future-proof brand impact. Learn more about how Marks disruptive brand solutions illuminate the future at https://www.makemarks.com.

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