Aussie clever boys Jono Flannery and Paul Gregson land at Johannes Leonardo New York

New York-based creative agency Johannes Leonardo, co-founded by Aussie expat Leo Premutico, has hired former M&C Saatchi, Sydney senior creative team Jono Flannery and Paul Gregson.

The duo became creative partners  at M&C Saatchi in 2012. Their four-year partnership has been punctuated by work for Comm Bank, Optus, Google, Asics, PepsiCo and more. Most notably, the pair’s 2015 Clever Buoy campaign for Optus garnered industry-wide acclaim, earning a highly-coveted Titanium Lion at Cannes.

“We’re excited about what Jono and Paul will bring,” say Johannes Leonardo co-founders and chief creative officers Jan Jacobs and Leo Premutico. “They have all the right ingredients to make their mark here–big thinking, an openness to new ways of working and an unmistakable confidence.”

Says Flannery (above right): “It’s colder here than I thought, so we probably didn’t think the timing through, but the chance to work with Jan and Leo, in an agency stinging to do more great work, makes it seem worthwhile.”

Says Gregson (above left): “For me, coming to New York has always been a dream, and after four amazing years in Australia I now feel I’m ready for the challenge. When the opportunity to work with Jan and Leo came up, it was impossible to turn down. The agency has an amazing client list, creative leaders and teams that have produced some of my favorite campaigns, and most importantly, an ongoing ambition to continue making great work.”

The agency has recently added MassMutual to its impressive client list that includes adidas Originals, NYCFC, Sonnet, Coca-Cola, Google and NBC.

The agency recently released ‘Original is Never Finished’, the latest iteration of their three year-long Strikethrough campaign for adidas Originals, that has amassed nearly 10 million views on YouTube during its first two weeks since being released. 

In their roles at Johannes Leonardo, Flannery and Gregson will work across the all of the agency’s accounts.