Thank you for wanting to find out more. Here is a bit of my story:
I have been working in communication, design and advertising for about 30 years. My career began in Europe with broadcast animation and design, as well as advertising Art Direction. I moved to New York in 1996, to run the design department for several record labels distributed via BMG. Soon after, I became Creative Director at Organic in New York, the then leading digital agency. At the beginning of the century, I became a digital creative lead with Ogilvy & Mather. I eventually became the Worldwide Creative Director for Siemens at Ogilvy.
In that position at Ogilvy & Mather I was responsible for the creation and implementation of the first global campaign for Siemens. It is a very targeted, strategic, fully integrated, multi-local advertising program. My teams and I have developed and designed it. Hundreds of agencies around the world still collaborate on parts of its implementation. I have led this effort, hands on, on the ground, with teams in New York, Frankfurt, Beijing, Dubai, Moscow, Mumbai, Johannesburg, Saõ Paulo and most recently Mexico City. I have experience guiding, managing and mentoring individuals, small teams, and also groups and organizations. All that in wildly varying conditions and structures, in different cultures and markets, across timezones and in many languages.
My experience is in all communication channels, targeting B2B, B2C and B2G audiences. My work has always been digital first. Often mobile first. But always strategic first. I have been responsible for successful and award winning creative expressions, campaigns and programs for clients as diverse as IBM and Dove, SAP and Six Flags, the IRS and TD Ameritrade, Microsoft and LafargeHolcim.
I have led initiatives that range from social media projects with a budget of zero to global campaigns with substantial funding in the tens of millions. Some of the work is large and emotional, some is very direct-response-driven and measured; a lot of it does not even look like advertising at all. Yet all of it has to be strategic, intelligent, and achieve a positive outcome for all involved.
I have decided about five years ago to make my expertise available to more businesses and non-profits that are sustainable or socially responsible. I co-founded a global communication consultancy Tea & Water, Ltd. The main seats of the firm are in London and New York, but the teams operate in all markets my partners and I previously serviced. Unlike many classic agencies, Tea & Water Ltd. brings together only experts who are interested in the projects at hand. This creates a superior working environment and also generates unprecedented value for our clients. We work only with people we like on projects we love and with clients whose vision we believe in. This is genuine 21st Century global collaboration.
In 2016 we then also created Tea & Water Pictures, a new kind of artist representation that puts to work many of our unique experiecne. We represent photographers and directors around the world, but we work with them as creative people, not assets.
Please feel free to download my chronological CV. I also strongly encourage you to visit my LinkedIn page, where you can also see things in a chronological order, plus recommendations and endorsements from my clients and colleagues.
Also feel free to contact me for any additional references and information.
Thank you again.
Only the very best
-Witold Riedel