Addition of Powerhouse Creative Aligns with Agency’s Aggressive Growth
Yes&, the independent, fully integrated marketing agency, has named Jason Gaboriau its new executive creative director. An award-winning industry veteran who has served in senior creative roles with some of the industry’s most admired creative shops, Gaboriau will expand the agency’s creative capabilities and industry footprint as part of its aggressive leadership growth and operational expansion.
Gaboriau brings Yes& more than 25 years of experience shaping culture and building iconic brands. As chief creative officer for some of the world’s top agencies—including Cliff Freeman & Partners, Amalgamated NYC, Crispin Porter & Bogusky, and Doner LA—he has created groundbreaking campaigns for both global and challenger brands that include Netflix, Coca-Cola, ESPN, Old Navy, Kraft, Ben & Jerry’s, Svedka Vodka, Grey Poupon, Budget Car Rental, Vitamin Water, New Belgium Brewing, AMC Theaters, Fuze Beverages and many others.
Gaboriau joins Yes& in the midst of an explosive expansion. In the past year alone, the agency added a new CEO, CFO, launched a major rebranding and acquired four leading companies, including a creative hot shop, a long-established full-service agency, a B2B agency and a communications training/crisis communications firm.
“This is a case of the perfect talent arriving at the perfect time,” said Josh Golden, President and Chief Creative Officer of Yes&. “Jason has that rare mix of guts, heart, and big-idea thinking, and his work has always stood out in the industry and in popular culture. That is exactly the kind of energy we want at Yes& right now, as we build out our presence in the industry. He will help our teams and our clients create work that gets noticed, gets results and gets remembered.”
Gaboriau’s resume reads like a Who’s Who of the most creative shops over the last 25 years. A graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, he began his career in the mid-90s as an art director at Goldsmith/Jeffrey and then moved on to the white-hot Cliff Freeman & Partners as an ACD. In 2003, Gaboriau made the sudden but inspired decision to launch his own agency, Amalgamated—without a single client—which he conceived as the first modern agency for the digital age. The name represented his intent to break open the agency team model and build an amalgamation of creative thinkers, designers, strategists and business analysts who worked together collaboratively and without boundaries to conceive bold and breakthrough ideas.
Amalgamated immediately became one of the fastest-growing small agencies of the aughts, winning dozens of creative awards: Cannes Lions, Effies, One Shows, Clios, Communication Arts. By 2011, Crispin Porter & Bogusky moved its home office to Boulder, and its superstar leader, Alex Bogusky, had left to pursue his own interests. The agency convinced Gaboriau to build them an LA office from scratch. “Sometimes, the best thing to do in a time of radical change is to add, well, even more change,” Gaboriau wrote.
In 2022, drawing on his expertise in branding and product innovation, Gaboriau founded Illicit Elixirs, a functional beverage company he built from the ground up that leveraged a disruptive creative platform to create a passionate and forward-thinking focus on wellness.
“I am thrilled to join the incredible team at Yes&,” Gaboriau said. “I have always admired their positivity-plus-possibility approach to creativity. It’s something I believe is missing from far too many agencies. After creating my own brand and working with agencies as a CMO, I know firsthand how powerful that mindset can be.”
“I’m especially excited to partner with Josh, one of the most passionate and insightful creative leaders I’ve ever worked alongside, and to support his and Zihla’s vision for Yes&,” Gaboriau said, referring to newly named CEO Zihla Salinas. “I can’t say enough about what an extraordinary leader and visionary she is. We were partners at Doner LA, building that office from zero to more than 50 people in just two years, and I’m looking forward to making big things happen together again.”
Serving clients nationwide, Yes& maintains hubs in the Washington, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta and Philadelphia areas. The agency delivers “positivity + possibility” through an expanding suite of capabilities, including branding, digital, analytics, media, advertising, customer experience (CX), market research, content development, studio services, event production, crisis communications, media training, and public relations. Clients include FEMA, Mercedes-Benz, IHG Hotels, Pirelli, Disney, the U.S. State Department, the Smithsonian Institution, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Pfizer, Google, the University of Virginia, the U.S. Mint, Akima, FINRA, and the Society for Human Resource Management.
