Rodrigo Sobral

Rod Sobral is a Brazilian-born, British-naturalised creative leader working at the intersection of culture, storytelling and technology. He has built a career shaping how brands grow through creativity, innovation, and more recently, the application of AI at scale. He serves on the D&AD Board of Trustees and on the Global Creative Councils of Unilever and Meta.  As Global Chief Creative Officer at OLIVER | Brandtech Group, Rod has helped transform the business into one of the most progressive marketing organisations in the world, growing the network from 800 to over 6,000+ people globally. Under his leadership, the company has achieved sustained creative excellence, earning 32 Agency of the Year titles and consistently ranking among the top creative agencies across key global markets.  Rod has led brand transformation initiatives for companies including Nike, Google, Unilever, Bayer, Ford and Beats by Dr. Dre, combining creative ambition with operational impact. His work spans breakthrough brand building, culture-shaping ideas and the design of modern brand ecosystems, including pioneering AI-driven marketing.  He also led Unilever's U-Studio creative renaissance across 21 regions, transforming it into one of the world's most effective and awarded in-house agencies.  Earlier in his career, he held creative leadership roles across Brazil, the US and Europe at R/GA, AKQA, JWT, Unit9 and The Mill, helping define new standards for digital and integrated creativity. His work has been recognised with over a thousand international awards, and he has been consistently named among the world's top creative leaders by Campaign.  His work for Beats by Dr. Dre attracted international press attention and produced some of the decade's most iconic sports campaigns, contributing to the brand's $3 billion acquisition by Apple.  For Google, he led the transformation of the 'Google Year In Search' initiative into a global engagement platform, including creating its most successful campaign to date.  For Nike, Rod pioneered digital products, leading the development of Nike Football's digital ecosystem and the launch of Nike+ in Europe, earning the brand its first Cannes Titanium Lion, Grand Prix and multiple D&AD Pencils.  Beyond his executive role, Rod is a film director and an early pioneer of AI-driven TV commercial production. He is known for high standards, clear creative direction, and a collaborative leadership style that builds teams that consistently outperform. He also mentors emerging talent from developing countries.