BIO

Xanthe is currently VP of Global Creative for Pinterest and runs the 📌 House of Creative 📌under CMO Andréa Mallard. Since arriving at Pinterest in November of 2022, Xanthe has been driving the brand's creative transformation and has been responsible for a major step change in creative output and quality that has resulted in unprecedented ROI for each of the major initiatives she has led, most notably the launch of the global creative platform “It’s Possible,” our 2024 Pinterest Predicts campaign and report, the Cannes Manifestival, Pinterest Presents and the best performing brand campaign in the company's history, her team’s creative output has beat all previous benchmarks and driven increased monthly active users on the platform.

Prior to joining Pinterest, she worked at Google for 5 years as Senior Director & Global ECD for Devices & Services, based out of Mountain View, California.

At Google she led her team of 100+ creatives and producers to international recognition by many industry award shows, culminating in a Grand Prix in Cannes for Real Tone on Google Pixel as well as being awarded “Brand Side Agency of the Year” in both the One Show and Art Director’s Club. The Google Real Tone campaign also picked up the CMO Pencil for One Show, Best of Discipline, 4 Gold Pencils, 3 Gold Cubes, 2 Bronze Lions and the D&AD Black Pencil. Google was also awarded “Brand of the Year” in both One Show and ADC, in large part due to the success of Real Tone as well as several other great Google projects.

Xanthe led all creative output globally for Google Devices & Services from packaging and retail all the way to Super Bowl campaigns. She worked in close collaboration with multiple agencies in addition to overseeing a large internal team of creative directors, art directors, designers, writers, package designers, photographers, retouchers, production artists, producers and creative operation. Xanthe’s scope at Google spanned 5 categories (Smart Home, Smartphone, Wearables, Gaming & Subscriptions) across 8+ global markets: and the following product lines: Google Pixel, Nest, Stadia, Google Fi and Google One.

Before becoming ECD of Google Devices & Services, Xanthe served as Global Creative Director at Nest, where she helped earn the brand some national accolades both in pop culture and in industry award shows, picking up two Gold One Show pencils, two gold Andys, two gold Addy awards, FWA mentions and one bronze Cannes Lion. She helped the brand launch five new hardware products: Nest Hello video doorbell, Nest Secure Alarm System, Nest Thermostat E, Nest Yale Lock and several accessories. 

Prior to that, she served as Executive Creative Director at TBWA\MAL for Good, working on social good initiatives for Laurene Powell Jobs' organization, Emerson Collective. Working alongside Lee Clow for the second time during her career, inspired her create memorable work for XQ: The Super School Project and One Love, an organization supporting healthy relationships that picked up a silver Cannes Lion for "Behind the Post," a film about the dichotomy of social media and toxic relationships. 

Before her time at \MAL, Xanthe served as Partner and Chief Creative Officer of Los Angeles-based boutique agency Pitch. While there, she helped boost Pitch into the national spotlight and her work earned the agency a spot on Ad Age's "Agency to Watch" A-List and a Small Agency Award. She helped the agency realize 30%+ YOY growth in both revenue and talent and was instrumental in landing multiple accounts including Netflix, Pepsi, Waldorf Astoria, SunPower, Arrowhead, Bonefish Grill, Konami, San Manuel Casino, Citrix, Weingart Center for the Homeless, Meineke, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Maaco, Closet Factory, Pinkberry and Living Spaces. 

Prior to joining Pitch, she spent the formative part of her career at TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles where she spent 7 years leading efforts on Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Kraft, Pinkberry, Bare Escentuals and Stacy's Chips. She started her advertising career at Ground Zero working on ESPN. Xanthe's work has been cited by numerous press outlets, including AdAge, Fast Company, Adweek, Creativity and the New York Times for her work in addition to all the major industry award shows including Cannes Lions, The One Show, Andys, Communication Arts and Clios.

Outside of agency life, Xanthe is an active advocate, ally and mentor for creative women and creatives from underrepresented backgrounds. She is also co-founder of WhipShots, an alcoholic whipped cream by Cardi B.

An art director by trade, she was born and raised in the heart of San Francisco but now lives in Los Altos with her two kids.

AWARDS

Grand Prix, Cannes Lions
Google Pixel Real Tone
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
June 2022
* Bronze Lion, Media - 2022
* Bronze Lion, Creative Effectiveness, 2023

Brand Side Agency of the Year (x2)
Google Devices & Services Creative Team
One Show & Art Director’s Club
May 2022

CMO Pencil, Google Real Tone
One Show
May 2022

Brand of the Year (x2)
Google
Art Director’s Club and One Show
May 2022

Grand Prix x 2, Google Real Tone
Best of Discipline
Art Director’s Club and One Show
May 2022

Gold Pencil x4, Silver x1, Bronze x1
Google Real Tone
One Show
May 2022

Gold Cube x3, Bronze x1
Art Director’s Club
May 2022

2019 Ad Age Woman to Watch
Advertising Age
June 2019

2015 Ad Age “40 Under 40”
Advertising Age
March 2015

30 Most Creative Women in Advertising
Business Insider
March 2015

"Excellence in Advertising: Xanthe Wells" 
57th Annual Genii Awards
May 2016

Gold Pencil (x2)
One Show
2018, Nest Solar Eclipse

Gold Andy
International Andy Awards
2018, Idea

Gold Addy (x2)
Silicon Valley Addy Awards
March 2018

Silver Lion
Cannes Lions, Film
2018, One Love "Behind the Post"

Bronze Lion
Cannes Lions, Sustainability Goals
2018, Nest Solar Eclipse

Small Agency of the Year, Silver, 11-75 Employees
Advertising Age
July 2014

Ad Age Agency A-List: Agency to Watch 2014
Ad Age
January 2014

20 Small Agencies That Punch Above Their Weight
Forbes
June 2015

Grand Prix
Disruption Awards
2010

Silver Clio
CLIO Awards
April 2011

Silver Lion, Cyber
Cannes Lions Festival 2010
June 2010

Silver Effie
Effie Awards
May 2010

Silver Addy
Addy Awards
March 2015

Bronze Addy
Addy Awards
March 2015

Bronze
PIAF Awards
May 2015

Twitter Creative Favorites: Twestimates
Twitter
July 2013

Bronze Lion
Cannes Lions, Digital Craft
June 2010

Bronze Andy Award
Andy Awards
2011

Nominee
Webby Awards
May 2014

Finalist
ThinkLA Awards
May 2014


AWARD SHOW JURIES:
 

Judge
Brandside Jury
The One Show
2023

Judge
AICP Awards
2022

Judge
AICP Awards
2018

Judge
The One Show
October 2016

Judge
The Andy Awards
February 2016

Judge
A-List Hollywood Awards
March 2016

Judge
Andy Awards
February 2015

Judge
AICP
January 2015

Judge
Effie Awards, North America
February 2015

Judge
Clio Awards
July 2014

Judge
National ADDY Awards, 2013
May 2013

Judge
Communication Arts, Advertising Annual
July 2013

Judge
Hatch Awards
April 2011

Judge
AICP Show
February 2013

Panelist
3% Conference, Los Angeles
August 2013

PAST&
PRESENT

Pinterest (November 2022 - present)

• VP, Global Creative
  & Executive Creative Director
  Pinterest

  • Responsible for all creative development for Pinterest across art direction, design, writing, channel marketing, video/motion graphics, photography and experiential.

Google (July 2017 - Oct 2022)

• Senior Director
  Global ECD
  Google Devices & Services

  • Overseeing creative output for Pixel, Nest, Stadia Chromecast, Google Fi, Google One across 8+ key global markets across all touch points: packaging, retail, experiential, TV, print, OOH, digital & internal branding

• Director
  Global ECD
  Google Devices & Services

  • Oversaw creative output for Pixel, Nest, Stadia Chromecast, Wifi, Subscriptions and services across 8+ key global markets

  • Responsible for creative across all consumer touch points: Packaging, channel retail, pop-ups, gStore, experiential activations, traditional and non-traditional advertising

  • Led a creative team of over 150+ people; reporting directly to Thomas Ranese, VP of Marketing for Google Devices & Services

  • Award winning creative director with 15+ years of experience running teams to deliver excellent work

• Director
  Global Creative Director
  Nest

  • Drove creative work across packaging, retail, experiential, print, OOH, TV & video mediums

  • Oversaw team of 40; reporting directly to CMO

  • Cannes, One Show, Andys, Addys award winning creative

TBWA \ MAL FOR GOOD (2016-2017)

• Executive Creative Director

  • Worked directly with Lee Clow on his last major advertising endeavor: \MAL FOR GOOD, a sister agency to TBWA\MAL set up to service social good clients, including but not limited to Emerson Collective, Laurene Powel-Jobs' foundation with tentacles in education (XQ: The SuperSchool Project), social impact (Chicago C.R.E.D.) and climate (Do-Fest).

  • Earned Cannes Lion for One Love film "Behind the Post"

PITCH (2013-2016)

• Partner & Chief Creative Officer

  • Grew agency from 1 client, Burger King, to over 13 in a few short year including Pepsi, Netflix, Nestle, Arrowhead, Waldorf Astoria, Bonefish Grill, San Manuel Casino, Konami, Mattel, Sunpower, Westfield, Maaco and Meineke.

  • Responsible for driving agency to recognized in the US as "Small Agency of the Year," "Agency to Watch" by AdAge and + 30%+ YOY growth in both revenue and talent leading to sale of company to Project:Worldwide in 2014.

TBWA \ Chiat Day, Los Angeles (2006-2013)

• Creative Director

  • Oversaw global creative efforts on Diet Pepsi, Pepsi, Pepsi Max in addition to US creative leadership on Pinkberry, Stacy's Chips and Kraft

  • Earned multiple awards and led a team of 20+ on Pepsi

  • Fostered an inclusive, productive culture within the team; mentored by Rob Schwartz (CEO, TBWA\Chiat\Day, New York) and Lee Clow (Global Chairman, TBWA)

• Associate Creative Director

  • Pitched and won 7 out of 8 clients during the few years I was ACD at Chiat

  • Managed nimble teams on Hillshire Farm, Sara Lee, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi

• Art Director

  • Hired to work on PlayStation

  • Also served as art director on WaMu, Visa, Hillshire Farm, Sara Lee

GROUND ZERO (2004-2006)

• Art Director

  • ESPN, California Anti-Smoking Campaign, Pinky & Seriously Vodka

PIXAR (1999-2001)

• Production Assistant, Art Dept.

  • Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Toy Story 2

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Panelist, Inside Track Conference hosted by Oliver Agency: Creating at the Speed of Culture - a relevant or redundant mantra for brands? With Bernado Andrada, Xanthe Wells and Karin-Onsager-Birch, 2022

Speaker, Real Creative Leadership, AdobeMax Conference, October 2020

Interview Xanthe Wells, She Dynasty Podcast, December 2018

Panelist, The Side Show, Podcast, October 2020

Speaker “Real talk from Creatives on the Agency to Client side Transition,” 3% Conference, Nov. 2019

Keynote Speaker / Guest Lecturer, Bentley University Graduate Program, 2020-present

Cannes Festival of Creativity, Panelist, June 2019

Keynote Speaker, Harvard Business School, Marketing Summit, Nov. 2018

Guest Lecturer, USC, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism 2016

Cannes Festival of Creativity, Panelist, June 2016

Speaker, VCU Brandcenter, December 6, 2013

Panelist, 3% Conference, Los Angeles, August 2013

Moderator, 3% Conference, San Francisco, October 2013

Speaker, 3% Conference, November 2014, "CD Bootcamp" with Rob Schwartz

Guest Speaker, Cal State Fullerton 2013 & 2014

CONTRIBUTOR

Breaking & Entering Podcast #158: Xanthe Wells, VP, Global Creative at Pinterest
March 2023

Transatlantic: Crossing Xanthe Wells’ Ocean, VP Global Creative, Pinterest
April 2023

The Tidal Podcast: Making Waves with Xanthe Wells, VP of Global Creative at Pinterest"
April 2023

Interview
101 Great Minds: Xanthe Wells
August 2022

Interview
D&AD: Google’s Xanthe Wells and Florian Koenigsberger on leadership
July 2022

Author
Communication Arts, Interactive Issue
"Promoted to Fail: A Creative's Journey to Leadership"
March/April 2015

Contributor
AdWeek
"How to Stop Your Best Creatives from Leaving You"
October 2015

Commentator / Interviewee
Super Bowl XLIX: An Insider's View Of The Ads
Forbes
February 2015

Guest Commentator
Bestads Six of the Best reviewed by Xanthe Wells, CCO/partner, Pitch, California
BestAdsonTV.com
January 2015

Contributor
Bloomberg Businessweek
Advertising Age
"Best SNL Ads as Chosen by Ad Execs"
February 2015

Contributor
AdWeek
"How to Win a Clio Award"
September 2014