Said Differently officially welcomed Josh Combs as the agency’s first-ever CMO. In an industry that historically deprioritizes its own marketing, we believe Said Differently needed a new type of creative leader. At Said Differently, we are on a mission to redefine the standards of creativity, technology, and marketing to solve for all that is wrong with the bloated agency model. From the initial point of introduction to the unveiling of our groundbreaking work, Josh’s creative vision will shape our presence in the marketplace as a globally recognized leader in innovation within the realms of creativity, technology, business, and the future of work.

At Said Differently, we spent our first years proving that there’s a better alternative to the industry status quo – one that scales for clients and empowers talent to do their best work. With the scale we’ve now achieved, Josh will be well-positioned to apply his deep understanding of brand development to help take us to the next level.

Josh brings his more than two decades of creative experience and his work has been recognized by prestigious awards including Cannes, One Show, Clios, Effies, Webby’s, and Communication Arts.

Prior to joining Said Differently, Josh served as the in-house creative lead for Campari Groupe, where he played a pivotal role in reshaping the creative direction of the entire whiskey portfolio. Before Campari, he held key leadership positions at prestigious legacy agencies, AKQA and Fallon. At AKQA, Josh was the Executive Creative Director at both the NYC and Portland offices, overseeing all creative output on clients including Nike, YouTube and Verizon amongst others. His contributions were instrumental in driving innovative and award-winning campaigns for the agency at large. At Fallon, he was the creative lead for brands including H&R Block and Quicken Loans and a key contributor to the agency winning Adweek’s Comeback Agency of the Year award. Combs’ impressive career also includes multiple-years at JWT Paris, where he led campaigns for BMW and other major brands.

From Josh:

“When you look around at the state of the creative services industry, you can’t help but wonder, ‘What’s next for it?’ If you’ve been in it long enough, you’ve seen the same problematic cycles repeat themselves every few years, and yet the model doesn’t really evolve to address them. That’s why I was so excited to join Rachel and Brian’s team at Said Differently. It felt like, finally, someone’s found a better way—a way that talent could be as important as the clients. There’s no denying the relationship between trusted, motivated talent and creating work that fundamentally moves a client’s business forward. This is a new model in an industry that could use a breath of fresh air.”