Gerry Graf has a new adventure. He has joined JOAN Creative as chief creative officer, leaving Slap Global, that he co-founded in 2021 with Maxi Itzkoff, and joining long-time friend and JOAN Creative CEO, Lisa Clunie.

During his time at Slap Global, the agency’s No Lay’s No Game platform for PepsiCo and UEFA became one of the most talked-about campaigns of 2023, earning the agency the Effie’s most effective independent agency in the world, and Ad Age Small Agency of the Year.

Graf’s name continues in the first indie he co-founded, Barton F. Graf, in 2010, where he was chief creative officer for nearly eleven years. That adventure followed a stellar holding company career beginning at BBDO and then Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, where he helped create Snickers’ Not going anywhere for a while? platform, and the E*TRADE Monkey work. The Monkey (Dancing Monkey) spot from Super Bowl XXXIV is still ranked among the top five Super Bowl commercials of all time.

Graf joined TBWA\Chiat\Day New York in 2024 and by 2007 it was the most creatively awarded agency in the world, with Graf its most creatively awarded creative director, through the work he led for Skittles. In 2008, he was appointed chief creative officer of Saatchi & Saatchi NY. During his time there, The Gunn Report named Saatchi NY’s Crest campaign the Most Awarded Campaign in the World.

“Slap Global is making some of the best work in the world,” Graf commented. “The 30 or so people we have are some of the best I’ve ever worked with. But this opportunity feels like fate. I’m not much into hocus pocus, but Lisa and I talked about starting an agency back in our Saatchi days. It seems like the universe decided now is the time. 

“Through the years we’ve always been there for each other as we grew our own places. When she called about partnering together, the answer was obvious. Lisa is smart, direct, an incredible leader, and doesn’t put up with my BS. The opportunity to take JOAN to the next level was impossible to pass up.”

“Okay, so here’s the thing about Gerry Graf,” Lisa Clunie stated. “I have known this man for nearly twenty years. We worked together, we became friends, and somewhere along the way we started talking about what we might build if we ever got the chance. Other chapters happened first – really good ones – but that idea never fully left the room. Gerry is one of the most talented, most principled, and genuinely most hilarious people I know. He believes what JOAN was built on: that independence is a creative superpower, that bold work and real business results belong together, and that the best work comes from people who actually care. Having him as my partner going into our next decade doesn’t just feel exciting. It feels like the best decision I’ve made in a very long time.”