Juliet Names Mike Johnson and Jordan Gladman as Its First Executive Creative Directors

Toronto agency Juliet has entered what founder and chief creative officer Ryan Spelliscy jokingly refers to as its “Michael Jordan era,” hiring former Cossette creative director Michael Johnson (left in main photo) to be its co-executive creative director alongside Jordan Gladman, who has been with the agency for the past three-and-a-half years.

They are the first-ever ECD appointments at Juliet, which will mark its seventh anniversary in November. While Ryan will continue to have a hand in the agency’s creative output, he said that having Michael and Jordan as ECDs allows them to focus on maintaining the agency’s creative standards, while freeing him up to focus on the business side of the agency.

“They’ll help elevate the day-to-day work,” said Ryan. “I really wanted a great duo that could be singularly focused on the creative output… while allowing me to focus on the bigger, macro things.” Juliet’s client roster includes the CFL, The Keg, FreshCo, Sporting life and U.S. pet supplies company Redbarn Pet Products.

Ryan said that Michael’s hire and the creation of a new co-ECD role marks the agency’s evolution into what he called “Juliet 2.0,” and a step change in how it operates, while retaining its hallmark as a small, nimble independent. Juliet currently employs about 38 people between its main office in Toronto and a second office in Los Angeles.

Any major hire or business evolution can lead to introspection, and Ryan said that Juliet has evolved in the way he envisioned. “I didn’t start Juliet saying, ‘We want to be 150 people.’ It sounds cliched, but I’ve always wanted to do really good work that serves clients’ bottom and top line and that resonates with audiences. The business has 100% evolved in the way I would have hoped.”

Michael and Jordan were previously a creative team at Leo Burnett, producing work for clients including TD, Budweiser, IKA and Amazon—including the 2016 Super Bowl spot “The Party”, featuring Alec Baldwin and former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino.

Ryan said that Juliet had been searching for a new creative partner for Jordan, and Michael was a natural fit given the pair’s creative history.

“What I like about [the hire] is that Michael and Jordan have a form of shorthand communications because they started their careers together,” he said. 

“Rather than having to play matchmaker, it’s nice that we get an ECD unit that can truly hit the ground running.”

“When we’re working together, things just click,” said Michael in a release. “The creative process is like a game, and doesn’t feel like the slog that it can sometimes become. I really missed that about working with Jordan.”

“What I like about Mike is that from concept to craft, his thinking mirrors Juliet’s audience-first approach,” added Jordan. “We’re here to help grow our clients’ businesses like cr.