- CRAIG DAVIS
- CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, WORLDWIDE
- JWT
Craig Davis grew up in small town called Dubbo, a 6 hour drive west of Sydney, Australia. Despite being so far from the coast, Craig learned to sail on a nearby lake and his competitive nature drove him to win national championships and represent Australia internationally.
As with many born in the Year of the Ox, it's this competitiveness and determination that have characterised Craig's professional life, although it took a few years of experimentation to stumble into the world of advertising. Stints as a barman, law student, busker, finance broker, turf cutter, biscuit maker, fruit picker, producer of fashion shows and truck driver all preceded his graduation from AWARD (Australian Writers and Art Directors') School in 1987. Over the next several years Craig developed his own agency which became one of Australia's most awarded independent shops.
In 1999 Craig left Australia to become Executive Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore and in 2000 was promoted to Regional ECD based in Hong Kong. Under his leadership Saatchi & Saatchi became the most awarded agency network in Asia and was named "Creative Network of the Year in 2002". In 2003 Craig helped Saatchis win "Global Agency of the Year" from both AdAge and Adweek and was named Asia's "Advertising Person of the Year".
The following year Craig moved to London to join JWT as the creative leader for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and in 2005 was made JWT's Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide. Since joining JWT the network's creative reputation has improved significantly and the Cannes tally has more than tripled.
In 2007 Craig became the first guest editor of the Gunn Report, stumbled through three triathlons and was inducted into the Campaign Brief Hall of Fame.
He is a frequent contributor to industry forums having spoken at events organised by Media, Yahoo, One Show, Clio, El Ojo Iberoamerica, Axis, AWARD, AdFest and Cannes, is on the advisory board for the Berlin School of Creative Leadership, and has judged D&AD, Clio, One Show, countless regional award shows and Cannes Titanium.
Craig is honoured and delighted to be the President of the Cannes Film and Press juries for 2008. He now lives much closer to the sea in London with his wife and is teaching his three children to sail.
Back to all speakers.