BIO

Recognized in 2019 as an Ad Age “Woman to Watch,” Xanthe is currently Senior Director & Global ECD for Google Devices & Services, based out of Mountain View, California. In her role, Xanthe’s scope spans 5 categories (Smart Home, Smartphone, Laptops/Tablets, Gaming & Subscriptions) across 8+ global markets: and the following product lines: Google Pixel, Nest, Stadia, Home, Wifi, Chromecast, Accessories, Google One and more. She was also recognized in 2015 by Ad Age as one of the industry's "40 Under 40," by Business Insider as one of "30 Most Creative Women in Advertising,"

Xanthe leads all creative output globally for Google Devices & Services, including TV, digital, OOH, print, packaging, retail, experiential, googlestore.com and pop-ups. She works in close collaboration with multiple agencies in addition to overseeing a large internal creative team of 150+ creatives: art directors, designers, writers, package designers, 2D/3D retail designers, digital creatives, photographers, retouchers, production artists, producers, traffic, operations, brand strategists and creative directors assigned to each of the major brands.

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 3% conference participant, partner in OH YES!, a natural foods pizza company sold in Whole Foods and co-founder of Breathe, a natural cleaning line sold in 100 Wegman's stores on the East Coast. She has also been recently recognized as one of "17 Los Angeles Power Moms" by Red Tricycle and by the Genii Awards for "Excellence in Advertising 2016." An art director by trade, she was born and raised in the heart of San Francisco but now lives in Palo Alto with her family.

CONTACT

Email me or LinkedIn me.

CONTRIBUTOR

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

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

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

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

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

Cannes Festival of Creativity, 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

PAST

Google

July 2017 - Present

• Senior Director
  Global ECD
  Google Devices & Services

  • Overseeing creative output for Pixel, Nest, Stadia Chromecast, Wifi, Subscriptions and services across 8+ key global markets across all touch points: packaging, retail, experiential, TV, print, OOH, digital, gStore, CRM, demand gen & 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
  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

1 yrs 4 mos

• 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

3 yrs

• 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

7 yrs

• 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

2 yrs

• Art Director

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

PIXAR

2 yrs

• Production Assistant, Art Dept.

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

STUFF

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

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

Gold (x2)
One Show
2018, Nest Solar Eclipse

Gold
International Andy Awards
2018, Idea

Gold (x2)
Silicon Valley Addy Awards
March 2018

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

Bronze
Cannes Lions, Sustainability Goals
2018, Nest Solar Eclipse

Silver
CLIO Awards
April 2011

Silver Cannes Lion, Cyber Category
Cannes Lions Festival 2010
June 2010

Silver Effie
Effie Awards
May 2010

Silver
Addy Awards
March 2015

Bronze
Addy Awards
March 2015

Bronze
PIAF Awards
May 2015

Twitter Creative Favorites: Twestimates
Twitter
July 2013

Bronze
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
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