SIMON WILLIAM JOHNSON • CREATIVE DIRECTOR
MY STORY:
Strategic. Multidisciplinary. Commercial.
Three words that describe me as a Creative Director. The difference is, I believe the work has to prove it.
I’m Simon William Johnson (Si) – a multi-award-winning Creative Director with 20+ years’ international experience shaping fully integrated global brands across four continents. From London to Sydney to Singapore, I’ve built campaigns that span traditional storytelling, social-first thinking, emerging platforms and AI-enhanced systems – bringing big ideas to life in ways people actually engage with.
I don’t believe in safe work.
Or louder-for-the-sake-of-it advertising.
I believe in work that works – creatively and commercially.
Making brands feel human again. Creating ideas that earn attention, travel across markets and deliver measurable business impact – not just awards.
I’ve led creative at some of the world’s most respected agencies – T&P, RKCR/Y&R, DDB, BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi, 180, Sid Lee and BSUR – winning major pitches and delivering 360º campaigns across TV, digital, social, experiential and platform-native content. Along the way, I’ve picked up 70+ awards and helped build brands at scale.
Alongside agency life, I founded Jigpaws.com – a consumer brand built from scratch – giving me a hands-on understanding of performance, customer behaviour and growth. The idea and the outcome. The craft and the conversion.
Today, I focus on where creativity, culture and technology meet:
• Social-first ideas built for real platforms and behaviours
• AI-driven systems that scale without losing craft
• Collaborative creative leadership that brings the best out of teams and clients
If you’re looking for a creative leader who can inspire teams, unlock new ways of working and deliver ideas people actually care about – we should talk.
Here are some of the highlights:
NEWS UK: Taking charge of another huge account, Si CD’d The Sun for The&Partnership – the nation’s #1 news brand, reaching 32M monthly readers. Led multi-platform campaigns across social, online, on-air and print, driving readership and traffic at scale.
M&S CHRISTMAS: Created the £3M integrated Christmas campaign – 10 TVCs including a 90” launch film. The iconic ‘This is not just food’ platform delivered +0.9% LFL sales and £2.85B revenue (+1.2% YoY).
VODAFONE: Won the £10M digital pitch, securing and consolidating a £50M account at RKCR Y&R. Promoted to UK Creative Director, leading integrated output and teams across the business – cementing Vodafone's position as the
#1 UK network provider with almost 28 million customers.
CARLSBERG: Won the Euro 2012 pitch against Saatchi & Saatchi. ‘Fan Academy’ delivered 1.5M YouTube views in days. "Thanks Diego...!"
MINI: ‘Another Day. Another Adventure.’ – global integrated campaign delivering 7M+ views, 3M+ social video views, and record sales of 301,526 units (+5.8% YoY).
NAPCAN: Global social impact campaign with 10M+ YouTube views, adopted in 20+ countries. Ranked 17th most awarded ad globally (Gunn Report).
LUCAS FILM: A glimpse into Hollywood post-production at the highest level. The highlight, lunch at George Lucas’ house. Even though he wasn’t there. (Or, was he...?)