J. Walter Thompson Toronto’s chief creative officer Ryan Spelliscy is leaving the agency.
Spelliscy (pictured in the centre of the bottom row) told strategy that despite both clients and his team at JWT being “some of the best I’ve ever worked with,” and the work created there among the strongest he’s been part of, the time had come to move on.
“Specifically, I’m going to spend some time with my young sons, take a nap, then, when I wake up, I’ll call some people I love, and ask them if they want to create what’s next with me,” he says.
Prior to joining JWT in 2013, Spelliscy was a co-creative director at Sid Lee for just under two years. Before that, he held roles with BBDO, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Lowe Roche and McCann.
Spelliscy took on the CCO role at JWT Toronto in early 2016, being promoted from SVP, executive creative director. At the time, Brent Choi, CCO for Canada and New York credited Spelliscy with leading much of the agency’s success, specifically through highly successful campaigns like SickKids’ “Better tomorrows” and Tim Hortons’ “Dark Experiment.”
Spelliscy’s last day will be Sept. 29. The agency will be announcing its succession plan in the coming weeks.