Jen Hays
LOS ANGELES • WORKING ACROSS THE US
I come in for the idea, run the team that builds it, and stay in the work through the end.
18 years across Droga5, AKQA, Saatchi & Saatchi, and BASIC/DEPT, plus in-house at Apple, Airbnb, and YINA.
BRANDS
Apple · Google · YouTube · Samsung · Verizon · T-Mobile · Levi's · lululemon · Under Armour · Puma · Target · Starbucks · Airbnb · Sandals Resorts · BetMGM · KFC · Chobani · Frito-Lay · Kraft · Prudential · UBS · Barbie · The Olympics
AWARDS
Cannes Lions · D&AD · Effie · One Show · Andy · Webby · Anthem Full List —>
The category competes on sign-up bonuses. We showed up with Vegas.
LULULEMON • LEGGINGS 101
Leggings for running, for yoga, and for sitting on the couch intending to do either.
SILVER OAK
The scope didn't fit. The shoot didn't cooperate. The wine never noticed.
Female athlete. Female director. Female CEO. I built the platform that asked 110 countries to drop the qualifier.
LEVI’S • VOTE ABOUT IT
We put Levi's in the middle of an election without putting it on a side.
DANIEL’S MUSIC FOUNDATION
I made accessibility and joy the same brief.
I gave retirement advice a behavioral science makeover. John Oliver noticed.
LEVI’S • STYLE + SUSTAINABILITY
Everyone had a sustainability story. Ours had to stop the thumb and sell the jeans.
CRICKET WIRELESS
I turned brand mascots into actors, and the client bought twice the spots.
I turned "you have to get this" into something you could have before the video ended.
APPLE • BEST OF
The fans wrote the ads. They thought they were writing App Store reviews.
AIRBNB • HELLO STRANGER PODCAST
The idea had no funding and no team. The deck I built got it both.
VERIZON • INNOVATIVE LEARNING
Verizon helps teachers immerse students in learning.
APPLE PAY
People already tapped to pay. We just had to make them think of it as gifting.
About
I came up through art direction and never left the craft behind. Eighteen years across Droga5, AKQA, Saatchi & Saatchi, and BASIC/DEPT, plus in-house at Apple, Airbnb, and YINA.
Lately I've been brought in by agencies for the part of the job that happens before anything is public: new business pitches, brand strategy, platform development, and the creative direction that follows once an account is won. More about me —>
Also: I co-founded The Broad Exchange in 2009, a 501(c)(3) that started as dinner circles and grew to 3,000-member network of women and gender-diverse creatives, early career to C-suite.
And: AI sits inside how I concept, research, and produce. It moves things faster. It doesn't get to decide anything.