Johannes Leonardo Names First Head of Agency Brand and Engagement

Elizabeth Hess will join the management team and serve as the agency’s conscience

Independent creative agency Johannes Leonardo announced today that it has promoted Elizabeth Hess to a new role for the agency, head of agency brand and engagement. Hess will join the management team and serve as the agency’s conscience. Redirecting focus on JL’s founding principle – The Consumer Is The Medium – Hess will help guide a consistent narrative that will inform the agency’s growth, new capabilities, client experience and day-to-day internal interactions.

Reporting to the president, Hess will work closely with cross-functional agency leaders and oversee all internal and external agency communication, corporate marketing, brand awareness, public relations and thought leadership campaigns to help amplify the agency’s vision and mission. Hess will also be a key partner in building out the Agency’s social channels and earned media functions.

“As JL’s director of communications, Elizabeth Hess has been an amazing partner and collaborator for over three years,” said president Bryan Yasko. “She has made tremendous contributions to both the impact and culture of the agency. Her expertise and point of view is always valued and universally sought out. As we are building the next phase of JL, we couldn’t imagine a better leader to serve as an interconnector, storyteller and brand ambassador of the organisation.”

Hess first joined Johannes Leonardo in December 2018 as the director of communications tasked with leading all internal and external communication efforts for the agency. She has since been instrumental in growing and scaling the agency and its client relationships in meaningful ways across trade marketing, speaking engagements and events. As a result, Hess helped lead the agency to immediate success. The agency was named Adweek’s Breakthrough Agency of the Year in 2019 and has been a repeated honoree on Ad Age’s Agency of The Year list. 

The Consumer Is The Medium has never been more prevalent than it is today as newer, deeper connections are happening between brands and people – a key differentiator for the agency that has, and continues to, set it apart from the industry in times of crisis. In the past 18 months, Johannes Leonardo has won global duties for Instagram and Uber, scaled its Kraft Heinz business and has made significant executive hires and promotions. This includes the appointment of Emily Wilcox as managing director, Julia Nuemann as chief creative officer, Nicole Holland as chief talent officer and Steve Zaroff as chief strategy officer. 

The appointment of Hess further signifies ‘a new JL’ – a time of significant revenue and client growth for the agency that has made significant strides to prime itself as a modern business in a post-pandemic world.