Prior to co:collective, Rosemarie was recognized as one of the preeminent advertising executives in the world. As Co-President of JWT North America, she famously led the 125-year-old advertising agency into the 21st century. Along with her partner Ty Montague, she transformed the agency and doubled profits which led to JWT being named Adweek’s 2009 Global Agency of the Year.
Previously as President of K&B, she grew it from a 30-person boutique to a 400-person, award-winning agency. She was named as one of the ‘100 most Influential Women in Advertising, by Advertising Age as well as one of the ‘100 People Who Make Advertising Great’ by the 4As.
In 2010, Rosemarie and her partners launched co:collective, a strategy and innovation consultancy, which uses a custom methodology called StoryDoing™ to drive top and bottom line growth. co:collective has been engaged by Google, YouTube, LinkedIn, Macy’s, IBM, MetLife, Timberland, Microsoft, Infiniti, ACLU and E! Entertainment among others to develop strategy, iconic innovations, and purpose driven content.
In his previous career in the advertising business, Ty was also a restless agent of change. As Co-President and Chief Creative Officer of JWT North America, Ty and his business partner Rosemarie Ryan helped lead a 5-year transformation of the agency. This effort culminated with JWT being named Adweek magazine’s 2009 Global Agency of the Year – the first award of its kind for JWT and parent company, WPP. Prior to that Ty launched and helped build the New York office of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, ran the New York office of Wieden + Kennedy and worked at the New York office of Chiat Day.
Ty is an author and frequent speaker on the topics of innovation, business transformation and the power of story. His first book is True Story: How To Combine Story and Action to Transform Your Business (2013 Harvard Business Press). Ty has been named one of the 50 Most Influential Creatives of the past 20 years by Creativity Magazine and Fast Company magazine named him one of the Top Ten Creative Minds in business.
Neil is the head of co:’s strategy offering, combining a unique mix of strategy consulting, innovation, and brand creation experience.
Prior to co:, Neil was Global Head of Strategy at Wolff Olins. There he redefined the strategy practice, tripling the size of the team and developing a new brand-led innovation offering. Neil also brought in new relationships with Microsoft and Target, leading to the creation of new brands such as Target up&up (a $1Bn + new owned brand) and a new generation of Windows experiences.
Before Wolff Olins, Neil was in Corporate Strategy at IBM, where he led new business creation from innovations grown by IBM Research. Prior to that, Neil was the lead Partner of IBM’s Media & Entertainment Strategy practice. Neil came to IBM through its acquisition of Mainspring, an Internet strategy and design firm where he led the New York office. Before Mainspring, Neil was a Partner in strategy consulting firm Kalchas, a breakaway from Bain and McKinsey.
Neil took a Fulbright Scholarship to UC Berkeley, completing an MA thesis on the novels of Joyce and Proust, and has a Double First in English from Oxford University.
