Jonathan Harries was chairman emeritus and executive advisor, global creative of
FCB (advertising agency)
Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB), is one of the largest global advertising agency networks. It is owned by Interpublic Group and was merged in 2006 with Draft Worldwide, adopting the name Draftfcb. In 2014 the company rebranded itself as FCB.
Parent ...
, one of the world's largest global advertising agency networks with more than 8,000 employees across 80 countries.
Career
Harries began his advertising career as a copywriter at the Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) office in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, then called Lindsay Smithers, initially offering to work for free. Before long, he had worked his way up to deputy chairman and executive creative director of Grey-Phillips. In 1986, Harries came to the United States and spent two years at
Grey Global Group
Grey Group is a global advertising and marketing agency with headquarters in New York City, and 432 offices in 96 countries, operating in 154 cities. It is organized into four geographical units: North America; Europe, Middle East & Africa, Asia ...
in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
before moving to
Leo Burnett
Leo Burnett (October 21, 1891 – June 7, 1971) was an American advertising executive and the founder of Leo Burnett Company, Inc. He was responsible for creating some of advertising's most well-known characters and campaigns of the 20th cent ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, and eventually served at the helm of Hal Riney & Partners in its Chicago office in 1990.
In 1997, Harries returned to FCB Chicago to lead the creative department as the agency's executive creative director. In 2004, he became worldwide creative director and, that same year, was named CEO of FCB Chicago – the first time a creative had served in that role since
Fairfax M. Cone. Throughout his tenure in Chicago, Harries worked on campaigns for such brands as
Gatorade
Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develop ...
,
Coors Light
Coors Light is a 4.2% (US) ABV light beer brewed in Golden, Colorado; Albany, Georgia; Elkton, Virginia; Fort Worth, Texas; Irwindale, California; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was first produced in 1978 by the Coors Brewing Company. The Canadia ...
and
Kraft Foods
The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015.
A merger with Heinz, arra ...
, and served as the global creative director on
S.C. Johnson & Son. Harries has also maintained a major role on the
Beiersdorf
Beiersdorf AG is a German multinational company that manufactures and retails personal-care products and pressure-sensitive adhesives. Its brands include Elastoplast, Eucerin (makers of Aquaphor), Labello, La Prairie, Nivea, Tesa SE (Tesa t ...
account team.
In 2005, Harries was named one of the "Who's Who" by Crain's Chicago Business.
"Who's Who 2005," Crain's Chicago Business
/ref> In 2006, he was appointed chief creative officer of FCB Global, after the merger between Draft and FCB, until 2015, when he became global chairman.
Throughout his career, Harries has served as a keynote speaker or on creative juries at award shows, including El Ojo de Iberoamérica, Dubai Lynx and the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...
, where he was also a guest blogger fo
''Adweek''
In 2017, Harries became chairman emeritus of FCB Global.
Harries published his first novel, "Killing Harry Bones," in July 2017 He followed that up with a stand alone novel “Infatuation” in 2018. In 2019 “Killing Bobby Fatt”, the follow-up to Killing Harry Bones was published and in early 2020 “Killing Valerian Zolotov”, the final of the Roger Storm series came out. His latest novel, “The Tailor of Riga, a family saga of dubious veracity was published in May 2020.
Notes
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20090831154448/http://www.draftfcb.com/biography.aspx?group=1&executive=3
* http://www.screenmag.tv/feature.aspx?fid=1471
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harries, Jonathan
South African businesspeople
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people