Weber Shandwick appoints Ciro Sarmiento as Chief Creative Officer for New York

Weber Shandwick announced the appointment of Ciro Sarmiento as chief creative officer of Weber Shandwick New York. Sarmiento has held executive creative roles at several leading agencies in the U.S. and South America, driving creative and culturally-relevant campaigns for many of the world’s most admired brands. He joins from multicultural marketing agency Dieste, where he served as chief creative officer. At Weber Shandwick, Sarmiento will elevate and drive earned-first creative work for clients and oversee a team of celebrated creatives in New York that continues to foster a culture of innovation.

“Not only is Ciro a fiercely inspiring creative leader, he also brings a rich multicultural and global perspective to everything he does – which is especially critical in New York, one of our most diverse and dynamic markets,” said Sung Chang, chief impact officer, Weber Shandwick. “With Ciro leading our New York creative teams, we will continue to deliver powerful and original solutions for our clients’ biggest and most complex challenges, ensuring that our work reflects and resonates with the audiences they serve.”

For more than two decades, Sarmiento has led integrated campaigns for many of the world’s leading companies, including Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Gillette, GlaxoSmithKline, Kellogg, Mars, Mattel, Procter and Gamble and Unilever. At Dieste, he built a strong, creative-led culture with diversity and inclusion at its core that attracted top talent and earned the agency international acclaim. Prior to that, he served as creative director at Leo Burnett Lapiz and LatinWorks, with a focus on driving impact in Latin communities in the U.S. He began his career at Ogilvy’s Bogotá office helping multinational clients build and expand their brands across South America.

“New York is the agency’s flagship office, and high-impact, earned-first creative is core to what we do,” said Michael Wehman, New York general manager, Weber Shandwick. “Ciro has the right mix of creative chops, leadership and teambuilding that will supercharge our ability to deliver the very best of Weber Shandwick to our clients. We’re thrilled to have him on board.”

“There is enormous power in bringing together creative and culture to solve business and organizational challenges,” Sarmiento said. “Weber Shandwick has an incredible track record and stellar talent with deep culture and digital chops – I look forward to partnering with the team to create transformative work that inspires and drives action, ultimately making an impact for our clients in in our communities.”

Sarmiento’s work has earned more than 500 honors in creative and strategy award shows worldwide, including the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Clio Awards, Effie Awards, and The One Show. He has served on international award juries throughout his career, including Dubai Lynx, D&AD, Effie Awards, el Ojo de Iberoamérica, Lisbon International Festival and IAB MIXX Awards. Sarmiento has been a featured speaker at Cannes Lions, D&AD, TEDxBarranquilla and other international events. He is also the former president of Círculo Creativo USA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting creativity in the U.S. Hispanic advertising market.