Every revolution. Same question.
From ad agencies in the ‘90s to building entire in house agencies at Salesforce and Google, the work has always meant taking on each new technology as it arrived: Photoshop, the internet, digital, social, mobile, cloud. Now AI is opening up entirely new roles, like creative engineers, and new ways to make things that just weren’t possible before. The point isn’t cheaper, faster, or fewer people. It’s raising the bar again and thrilling the audience in a whole new way.
What are we solving for? The audience is the judge.
01Salesforce / Dreamforce
An event like
no other.
A year of work comes together at Dreamforce. The brand, the message and the company’s next chapter take shape in one shared experience. The opening film is the invitation into that world.
Watch the opening filmMore from Salesforce
Dreamforce is the culmination of the year at Salesforce. Customer stories, product ideas, partnerships and the company’s ambitions all come together here. It is where the brand and the message are renewed for the year ahead.
The opening film sets the stage. Around it is a much larger body of work: stories about customers, communities and the people making change possible.
Customer stories & brand films
Burberry / Angela AhrendtsAston Martin / Customer storyLouis Vuitton / Customer storyFormula 1 / Customer storyAgentforce Company / Matthew McConaugheyWho are the Agentblazers? / Matthew McConaughey
02Salesforce / Inside the Beast
Thirty seconds.
Two months of adventure.
A 30-second Super Bowl spot became a two-month adventure, introducing Slackbot to the world through a real customer story, a million-dollar puzzle and a campaign people could take part in.
Watch the case studyExplore the full campaign
The Super Bowl was an opportunity to introduce Slackbot by putting it to work. MrBeast was already using Slack to run his business. That real customer story became the foundation for an adventure that invited people to use the product to solve a million-dollar puzzle.
Over two months, a connected series of films took audiences inside the business and into the challenge. The 30-second Super Bowl spot was one moment in a much larger campaign, with the product at the heart of the experience.
The launch.
LaunchThe Super Bowl ad.
Super Bowl Ad
03Google / Artificial intelligence
The possibilities.
The responsibility.
In 2018, Google needed to explain what artificial intelligence could make possible and how it should be developed responsibly. A film about access, human capability and the principles behind the technology.
Watch the 2018 filmThe context behind the film
The film brings together people developing the technology to discuss what it could mean for everyone. It connects the AI already working inside Google with the possibility of making those tools available more widely.
At its heart is the idea that AI should extend human ability. Fairness, transparency and human benefit become part of the story of what the technology should make possible.
Explore the Google collection
04Google Cloud / The New York Times
The archive
comes alive.
Millions of photographs. Generations of stories. A customer’s extraordinary archive becomes a human story about memory, discovery and what technology makes possible.
Watch the case studyBehind the story
How do you find a story inside millions of photographs? The New York Times archive held generations of images, with valuable information on the backs of the prints. Google Cloud helped turn that material into a searchable resource for the newsroom.
Following the NCAA campaign, this was another way to show the technology through a customer’s real problem. It gave other leaders a way to imagine what might be possible with the information inside their own companies.
More from the project
The New York Times: untold stories in the photo archive
05Google Cloud / NCAA
The game became
the demonstration.
Google Cloud needed to establish itself as a major player. The 2018 Final Four became a live product demonstration, using game data to make predictions and turn them into a halftime television ad.
Watch the 2018 case studyExplore the NCAA story
First-half data was used to predict second-half statistics. Those predictions then had to become a television ad, assembled and delivered in time for halftime. Creative, media, data and engineering teams built and tested the system to make that possible.
The campaign helped put Google Cloud on the map by showing the technology in action. The product’s capabilities became the story. The campaign won a Gold Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
06Salesforce / Formula 1
A global sport.
A personal connection.
The spectacle draws people in. The relationship reaches beyond the track. A customer story about bringing a worldwide sport closer to each fan.
Watch the filmBehind the customer story
How can a global sport make its relationship with each fan feel personal?
Look beyond the speed. The spectacle draws people in; the experiences around it keep them connected. Tell the business story through the people who make those connections possible.
The people who love the sport, and the teams working to bring them closer to it. Technology matters here because of the experience it can help create.
07Salesforce / (RED)
A future worth
fighting for.
Behind the fight against AIDS are people with lives to live. A documentary about treatment, dignity and the possibility of an AIDS-free generation, told through the people at the heart of the work.
Watch the documentaryMore documentary films
The film moves between the lives of women affected by HIV and the network of people and organizations working to change what is possible. The Global Fund, (RED) and its partners become part of a human story about health, independence and hope.
Created for Dreamforce in 2016, it connects that work to the technology and support helping (RED) reach more people. The story belongs to those whose lives are changing.
Education, opportunity and community
Room to Read / Education changes a futureHaiti / A window of opportunitySFUSD / Finding the spark
08Salesforce / Company in motion
A company’s story.
In real time.
Made every quarter and released with earnings. Three and a half minutes bringing together what has happened, what matters now and where the company is going.
Watch the filmHow the story comes together
The story is being written while the film is being made. Leadership conversations, customer stories, global events and the latest developments have to become one clear narrative, right up to the deadline.
This recurring film began during John’s first chapter at Salesforce. It gives customers, investors and employees a shared understanding of the company’s momentum. In the agentic era, that understanding has to keep moving as quickly as the company does.
09Salesforce / Missionforce
Serving those
who serve us all.
A mission begins with people. Those who respond when help is needed, care for others and carry a responsibility larger than themselves. Technology earns its place by helping them do that work.
Watch the filmBehind the story
How do you tell a technology story that begins with a mission?
Start with the person carrying the responsibility. A uniform, an act of care, a response when help is needed. The mission gives the technology its meaning.
The people who serve, and the people who depend on them. The story has to connect the promise of better systems to the responsibility they carry every day.
10Salesforce / Claudeforce
Intelligence
meets context.
Reasoning alone is only part of the story. A business has its own information, relationships and ways of working. Claudeforce brings those worlds together, giving intelligence the context to become useful.
Watch the filmBehind the story
What does intelligence need to understand before it can help?
Begin with the business. Its knowledge, workflows and rules give intelligence something specific to work with. The launch introduces the partnership through that relationship: understanding the world in which the work happens.
People considering what a new partnership could mean for their own work. The connection needs to be clear enough to understand in the context of a business they know.
11Salesforce / Brand environment
A brand you
can walk into.
Before a meeting begins, a place tells you something about a company. The Salesforce Video Wall turned the lobby into a living brand environment, creating a sense of wonder, pride and possibility.
Watch the filmThe vision behind the experience
The vision began with three things people might feel as they entered: customers confident in the future, employees proud to belong and candidates wanting to be part of it.
Two years later, the screens were built. Forests, water, light and motion became a new way to experience the brand.
Explore the brand environment storyArchive photograph: Earl Wilson / The New York Times
Salesforce
Customer stories, brand films and shared experiences.
02Google Cloud
Customer films, culture and the possibilities of technology.
03Okta
Identity, purpose and the people behind the brand.
04Armada
A startup, from the first idea to its introduction to the world.
05Ads & Virals
Giants, Alpo, Mike’s, Rocky and Sinatra.
About John
Along the way.
John Zissimos is a creative and marketing leader, writer and director. His career spans senior creative leadership in advertising agencies and Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Creative Officer, Chief Brand Officer and Chief Digital Officer roles inside companies.
Two careers have grown out of the same curiosity: finding the story and bringing the right people together to tell it. The first took me through advertising agencies and film sets. The second brought that work inside companies, building the teams and creative organizations around their next chapter. Each brought new challenges and new tools. The question stays the same: what are we solving for?
The chapters along the way
Advertising agency leadership & film
The first chapter began at Chiat/Day, followed by Group Creative Director and Senior Partner at J. Walter Thompson, then SVP and Group Creative Director at McCann Erickson. Years of writing, shaping campaigns and leading creative teams came before a move into directing full time, first at Hungry Man, then independently.
Building creative organizations
Every company needed something different. An in-house agency at Salesforce. A hybrid of internal teams and agency partners at Google. A broader marketing role at Okta. Building from very little at Armada. The team and the way of working had to fit the challenge.
Returning. Moving forward.
Eight years after leaving Salesforce, Marc Benioff asked me to return. The next chapter meant reigniting the brand, rebuilding the storytelling engine and bringing together a new team for the agentic era. Creative engineering roles and new ways of making became part of that story.
How the stories get made
Start with the truth.
The truth is the easiest thing to remember. A story starts by getting to the heart of a company, a product or a person. What is real? Why does it matter? What does it make possible? That is where an authentic brand begins.
A way of building teams
Great work needs a clear direction and room for everyone to contribute. That lesson began on film sets and has shaped every team since.
Make the mission clear, turn the ambition into daily progress and take responsibility when things go wrong. People need to know you have their back. Family comes first.
- Show up. Be helpful.
- Make daily progress.
- Pour love into the room.
- Take everyone with you.
Thinking / 01
What makes a story
worth telling?
It's easy to get excited about an idea and start making things. I love that part. But it helps to stop for a minute and ask what we're actually trying to do. Who's going to see this? Why should anyone care? Sometimes figuring that out is the hardest part of the whole job.
Read the story
My favorite film.
People often expect a commercial or a big company project. It’s a day with my middle daughter. Just the two of us.
Watch the filmSusan St. Ledger / Okta / 2022
Talking Work-Life Understanding
A conversation about people, purpose and building a team.
Salesforce Newsroom / 2026
The Million-Dollar Puzzle
Inside the collaboration behind the Super Bowl campaign.
On Brand / 2016
Building the Brand Experience Inside and Out
An On Brand conversation about customer stories and creative culture.
Personal photography
A way of looking.
A love of black and white. Personal photographs, away from the work.
Talking work-life
understanding.
People, purpose and the life around the work. A conversation with Susan St. Ledger from John’s time at Okta.
Spend five minutes with John Zissimos (AKA JZ), and three things become clear: this is someone with an inspired approach to people, culture, and leadership. He believes in data-driven creativity, is a master at designing and building digital ecosystems, and is one of the best storytellers I’ve personally ever encountered. Most importantly, his family always comes first.
After spending more than three years at Google and seven years at Salesforce, JZ was recently promoted to CMO of Okta. While building strong teams and fantastic work culture, he’s helped build iconic brands and plans to do the same at Okta. This interview will give you a glimpse into why we're all beyond excited about our bright future together.
SSL: Last week at our Company Kick-Off you told the story about how you got to Okta. Do you mind repeating that here?
JZ: Not at all. I wasn’t recruited to come here. No one called me. I didn’t see a job description. Because none of that existed. I reached out to Okta because I wanted to come work here. I was an early investor in the stock, and I’ve been following this story from the start. I wanted to be a part of this amazing company because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I could see it. And I felt a great sense of purpose and a magnetic pull to join.
SSL: When you first spoke to Okta’s CEO Todd McKinnon, he said: “You’re a great marketer, I don’t care about that. I just want you to be a great people leader and help me build a company that people love working for.” What did that mean to you?
JZ: It’s kind of shocking to hear something like that actually. It meant everything to me. Working at a company that really prioritizes putting people first, I’ve been searching for that my entire career. Every company says that in some way, but very few actually do it for real. When Todd said that to me, I knew for sure I was in the right place at the right time.
For me, it’s not work-life balance. That puts pressure on the employee to figure it out. I believe in something I call work-life understanding. You have to get to know your people in a profound way if you want to truly create a great team and culture today. What is our connection to each other? If you want to build a purpose-driven brand, you first need to make sure as a leader you foster the ability for everyone on your team to have a higher purpose outside of work and enable them to make that their #1 priority in life.
For me, it’s my family. Being great at home is the ultimate mission for me. On my final day on this planet, I’m not looking for my wife and daughters to tell me I was an amazing CMO. That’s not the goal. Hearing that I was the very best husband and father is what I’m looking for. I tell my team, whatever your passion in life is outside of work, focus on that. To be great at work, you first need to be exceptional outside of work. Make that your focus and you’ll be amazing here. And if you’re working somewhere, where that’s not possible, come join us.
SSL: We recently held our Sales Kickoff in Las Vegas (our first in-person Okta event in two years!), and you spoke about the power of purpose-driven brands and storytelling. What is your approach to building a purpose-driven brand?
It all comes down to one word: Listening. It’s so important to do your research and truly listen. It takes time. You have to find out what all of your stakeholders think of you, and more importantly, what do they want from you?
A brand isn’t a logo or a color or a font or a tagline. A brand is a promise. I like to dig in and figure out what that promise is and bring it to life through powerful storytelling.
Most companies focus on the product. It’s great, but it only tells a fraction of the story. A powerful story needs three acts. It’s who you are, what you do and how you do it. We have 5,000 dedicated employees focused on customer success and doing it in a way that no other company on earth operates. It’s an amazing story.
Our products are phenomenal, but the only thing that matters is what those products allow our customers to achieve. Our products help our customers’ hopes, dreams, mission, and purpose come to life. That’s where the magic is. Everywhere I look there’s an Okta superfan with a great story to tell. All we have to do is give them the platform to do it.
It’s the customer’s story that’s magical. The moment we forget that we’re just like any other product for sale.
SSL: What are some of the key insights you’ve uncovered in your brand research with our customers and stakeholders?
JZ: We’ve invested a lot of time talking to customers, CTOs, developers, solutions engineers, IT directors, and product leaders. We found that we're super trusted across the board. Some of the anecdotes underscoring that trust include
Strong product innovation, with a roadmap they can believe in
Integration with existing and future apps
Speed-to-business value
Ease of implementation
One of, if not the most powerful things we do as a brand, is to allow our customers the freedom to make powerful choices. This came up time after time after time in our research and interviews. We free them to safely use any technology. Our neutral and open identity platform is key for them. And the power of the Okta Integration Network further complements this story. It’s an enduring idea that’s shared across all our customers. The more freedom decision-makers have, the more they like their jobs. That's pretty powerful stuff.
SSL: What does working for you and with you look like?
JZ: My most important job is to be a mentor and a coach. I work for the team. Not the other way around. We’re all here to help each other. The moment we forget that we’re all lost.
I have 4 simple things I ask my team to do:
Show up. Be helpful
Make daily progress
Pour love into the room
Take everyone with you
I believe success is a choice. And making the choice to show up each and every day to help everyone succeed is what I aspire to do. One thing I took for granted for a long time was thinking too far ahead and wasting important opportunities to have a profound impact daily. Do you know what the most important moment of your life is? It’s the one you’re presently in. It’s the only moment you can be certain you have. Life is crazy short. Don’t waste it. Use every single day, every meeting, every interaction you have to lift someone up, to motivate them, to inspire them.
I want success for our teams, but to get there, I allow space for all voices, for innovation, for risk-taking. If someone has something they’re really passionate about doing, my job is to be a good partner, to ask the right questions, and to empower people to put forward ideas that they really believe will work. You need to let people execute and learn. Micromanagement is poison at work. I’ve worked for many micromanagers. They drain the life out of you, create fear and crush innovation. People don’t leave companies. They leave micromanagers.
I’m inspired by the mission, the people, the culture, and also your leadership style. Every week we meet and the net takeaway of our 1:1 is I believe in you, and I trust you. That inspires me to achieve the impossible. Creating a culture where our people can thrive is what you and Todd and the rest of the team care about, it’s why I’m so happy to be in this role. I’ve had a lot of success throughout my career, but I haven't worked in an environment like this before. I’m in a culture I’ve been searching for my entire career, and I absolutely love coming to work every day at Okta.
Rapid-fire question round:
Favorite business story: Who Moved My Cheese?
Meal of choice: Homemade pizzas with my kids and wife every Friday night
Hobby: Work is my favorite hobby. I love my job.
Favorite organization: 3% movement
More on JZ
JZ is a true customer champion, creative thinker, and transformative leader. He has already made a tangible impact here at Okta, strengthening our marketing organization with incredible team-building and bringing an innovative approach to storytelling.
Before joining Okta, John was the VP of Creative, Brand, Media, and Customer Programs at Google, where he led the team responsible for building the Google Cloud business globally. Prior to that, he spent over seven years at Salesforce where he served as Chief Design Officer and reported directly to Marc Benioff. During his time there, he built the Salesforce brand and crafted the company’s story around the world. He inspired a data-driven, design-led culture to accelerate digital transformation, and built a full-service agency within Salesforce to innovate and help drive the fastest-growing software company in the world from $1 Billion to $8.5 Billion in revenue. He led the creative and marketing organization across digital, strategy, brand, advertising media, interactive design, films, events, customer stories, and UX.
Publication and credits
By Susan St. Ledger. President, Worldwide Field Operations, at the time of publication.
Originally published as Talking Work-Life Understanding With Okta’s New CMO, John Zissimos.
Preserved here from John’s archive. First published by Okta.
An audience.
A part to play.
A conversation with Salesforce Newsroom about the creative process behind the MrBeast Super Bowl campaign.
About the original conversation
Inside the collaboration.
The commercial opened into a puzzle that people could follow through the ad, behind-the-scenes films and social posts. Slackbot became part of the experience, helping participants organize what they found and work through the clues.
In the original interview, John discusses the collaboration with Beast Industries, the pace of production and the role Slack played in bringing the teams together. The conversation also explores what it means to share creative control with a creator and reach an audience through that partnership.
Continue at the publisher
The Million-Dollar Puzzle: How Slackbot and MrBeast are Rewriting the Super Bowl Playbook
Read the interview at SalesforceBuilding the brand
from the inside.
An On Brand conversation with Nick Westergaard about customer stories, creative culture and building an agency inside Salesforce.
About the original conversation
The story starts inside.
In this 2016 conversation, John reflects on building a creative organization within Salesforce and bringing the company’s promise to life through its customers. The discussion connects the internal culture of a company with the stories people encounter outside it.
The original episode and accompanying article explore how customer films became part of the Salesforce story, and how a brand takes shape across products, people and experiences.
Continue at the publisher
Building the Brand Experience Inside and Out at Salesforce
Listen and read on On BrandWhat makes a story
worth telling?
I've spent a lot of my life in ad agencies, on film sets and inside companies, trying to figure out how to tell a story that people will care about. They're very different places to work. But somewhere along the way, the same question always comes up: what are we solving for?
It's easy to get excited about an idea and start making things. I love that part. But it helps to stop for a minute and ask what we're actually trying to do. Who's going to see this? Why should anyone care? Sometimes figuring that out is the hardest part of the whole job.
For me, that usually means getting to the truth of something. What makes this company who it is? What's useful about this product? What's someone able to do because of it? You can spend a lot of time trying to make a company sound like something it isn't. It's much more interesting to find out what it really is. And the truth's the easiest thing to remember.
That's what I've always loved about sitting down with a customer. You don't really know where the conversation's going to go. You ask what they're trying to accomplish, whether the product's helping and what could be better. Then you listen. There's usually something in there that's far more interesting than anything you could've scripted. And someone watching it might think, hang on, we've got that same problem. Maybe we could do that too.
A film set taught me a lot about how to make room for that kind of discovery. You show up with a script, a vision and a deadline. You might only know a handful of people. Everyone around you knows something about their craft that you don't, and you hope they'll share it. So the tone you set matters. Keep it open, keep it respectful, have some fun. Someone might come over with an idea for a shot or a lens or a different way to play a scene. That's one of the great joys of directing. You get to see what happens when all those people bring something to it.
I've taken that with me into every team I've led. People need to understand where we're going, but they also need to know what we're trying to get done today. And if you're asking them to try things, you have to be there when something goes wrong. You can't invite people to take a chance and then leave them on their own when it doesn't work. That's part of the job too.
Now there's this whole new world opening up with AI, and I'm spending a lot of time exploring it. There are things I can make today that I couldn't have made a couple of years ago. That's pretty extraordinary. I keep thinking about what it could mean for a team, for an idea that used to be too difficult to try, or a story we couldn't quite find a way to tell. There's so much to figure out, and that's a big part of what makes it exciting.
I've been through a lot of changes in this business. The part I still love is making something with people who care about it, then seeing what happens when it reaches an audience. Did it move them? Did it help them see something they hadn't seen before? After all the work that goes into it, they're the ones who get to decide.
Back to ThinkingSalesforce / Selected work
A company evolves.
Its story moves forward.
Two chapters at Salesforce, from building an in-house creative agency and a new way of telling customer stories to renewing the brand for the agentic era. The work brings strategy, storytelling and the people who make it possible together.
What are we solving for?
What does the next chapter need?
The first eight years helped establish a storytelling engine built around the truth of what customers were accomplishing. An in-house agency brought the brand, campaigns and films together. Eight years after leaving, a personal invitation from Marc Benioff opened a new chapter: reigniting the brand, shaping its story for the agentic era and rebuilding the team to carry it forward. A new campaign organization, creative engineering roles and new ways of making gave that story a foundation for what came next.
Dreamforce / Brand and experience
An event like no other.
A year of work comes together at Dreamforce. The brand is renewed, the message takes shape and the company’s next chapter becomes a shared experience. The opening film is the invitation into that world.
Inside the Beast / Slackbot
Thirty seconds. Two months of adventure.
A Super Bowl spot became a two-month adventure introducing Slackbot to the world. MrBeast’s real customer story and a million-dollar puzzle put the product at the heart of an experience people could take part in.
Formula 1 / Customer storytelling
A global sport. A personal connection.
The scale of Formula 1 creates a very human challenge: staying close to its fans. A customer story about how Salesforce and Agentforce help the sport answer questions and build those relationships beyond the track.
Customer stories
The customer is the story. An honest conversation about what someone wants to accomplish, and what the product helps make possible, opens a window for everyone facing a similar challenge.
Brand & ideas
From the Age of the Customer to Agentforce, the brand has to express what the company believes and where it is going. Design and campaigns bring that direction into view.
A larger stage
The annual gathering, the Super Bowl and the quarterly company film each serve a different audience and moment. Together they keep the company’s story moving.
Documentary films
Four films made for Salesforce. Health, education and opportunity, seen through the people whose lives give each story its meaning.
(RED)
A future worth fighting for.
A human story about treatment, dignity and the fight for an AIDS-free generation. The people whose lives are changing give the larger mission its meaning.
Watch the documentary
Room to Read
Education changes a future.
In Cambodia, access to education becomes a story about loss, determination and the futures children can imagine. Room to Read’s mission comes to life through families, teachers and girls with ambitions of their own.
Watch the documentary
Haiti
A window of opportunity.
After the earthquake, rebuilding meant connecting families with support and children with education. The film follows the people using technology, public service and volunteering to open new possibilities.
Watch the documentary
San Francisco Unified School District
Finding the spark.
A city known for innovation needed that possibility to reach its public schools. Students and educators show what changes when access to technology comes with people, training and belief in every child.
Watch the documentaryBrand environment
The company’s story, experienced as a place.
The story behind the workGoogle Cloud / Selected work
Show what technology
makes possible.
Google was already part of everyday life. In the enterprise cloud market, it had a different challenge: earning a place with business customers. The work made that possibility tangible through the people and organizations using the technology.
What are we solving for?
How does a household name earn its place in business?
Search had made Google a defining force in the consumer world. In B2B, Google Cloud was a challenger. Familiarity with the name was only a beginning. Business leaders needed to see what the technology could help them accomplish. A live prediction during March Madness. A newspaper’s photographic history made searchable. Scientists taking on questions that once seemed out of reach. Each story gave them a reason to consider Google Cloud for a challenge of their own.
NCAA / A live product demonstration
The game became the demonstration.
First-half game data became predictions for the second half, delivered in a television ad at halftime. A live test of the technology, and a Gold Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Photograph: Earl Wilson / The New York Times
The New York Times / The archive
A history waiting to be found.
Millions of photographs held generations of stories. Google Cloud helped turn that archive into a resource people could search, opening up a new way to understand its value.
NASA / Scientific possibility
Questions worth asking.
From forecasting floods to finding resources on the Moon, NASA’s scientific challenges make the possibilities of machine learning tangible. The questions lead. The technology helps find a way.
Artificial intelligence / The possibilities and the responsibility
In 2018, Google needed to explain what artificial intelligence could make possible and how it should be developed responsibly. A film about access, human capability and the principles behind the technology.
NASA / Questions worth asking
Customer stories
Google Cloud Next
Make It With G Suite
The campaign, the question behind it and five films about making things together.
The story behind the work
Brand & design
Five Years On / Google for Education
Five years after Chromebooks and G Suite arrived in Fairfield County schools, three students prepare for life beyond high school. A documentary about closing the digital divide, finding confidence and choosing a future.
Okta / Selected work
The freedom
to choose.
Behind every login is a person trying to do something. The Okta chapter connected identity with what it makes possible for customers, and the people and culture behind that promise.
What are we solving for?
How do you make identity matter beyond the login?
Customer research pointed to a simple idea: freedom. Freedom to choose technology, connect it securely and get on with the work. The challenge was to make that promise clear across the brand and customer stories. As CMO, the responsibility also reached inside the company: building a marketing organization where people could do their best work.
Okta / Digital vision
Possibility, connected.
The choice of technology shapes what people can do. A film connecting identity and trust with the freedom to move through a digital world.
Major League Baseball / Customer story
Behind the game.
A familiar game, supported by a complex digital operation. MLB’s story makes identity concrete through the people and systems behind baseball.
Vision & brand
The company’s vision, its purpose and the way the brand shows up. Three films exploring what identity makes possible.
People & purpose
The technology finds its meaning in the people using it. A customer story and the work of Okta for Good bring two sides of that promise into view.
Armada / Selected work
An idea enters
the world.
A new company needed a clear story: what it stood for, what it was building and why it mattered. A new website and three films brought the mission, the founders and the platform into focus.
Armada website / 2023
The company’s introduction, brought to life online.
What are we solving for?
How do you help people see the potential of something just beginning?
The launch, founder and product films helped make Armada’s mission tangible in early investor conversations. By its public launch in December 2023, the company had raised more than $55 million. The films also helped introduce Armada to Microsoft. A $40 million round led by Microsoft’s M12 followed in July 2024, alongside a separate Microsoft partnership bringing Armada’s products to Azure Marketplace.
Ads & Virals / Selected work
A little unexpected.
Hard to forget.
A few favorites from the advertising years. Short films with room for humor, character and a surprise.
What are we solving for?
What did each brand need to make people feel?
A new season, a different point of view, a new kind of screen. Each campaign began with its own assignment. The stories behind them are part of the work.
San Francisco Giants
New players, new energy and the start of a season. John directed the annual campaign.
The story behind the workAlpo
Let dogs be dogs. A playful response to a world of increasingly pampered pets.
The story behind the workMike’s Hard Lemonade
A deliberately homemade feel in the early days of YouTube.
The story behind the workLipton Brisk
Rocky and Sinatra. Two Super Bowl films that helped start a long-running campaign.
The story behind the workSan Francisco Giants / From the archive
A new season.
A new cast.
New players. New energy. An annual campaign to bring the team’s next chapter to life.
John Zissimos / Direction
What are we solving for?
How do you get people excited about the team taking the field this year?
The context
Every season brings a different team and a fresh story. The Giants needed a campaign for their new players and the energy around them.
The idea
Give that new cast a place in the campaign. John directed these ads as part of the team’s annual introduction to the season.
Alpo / From the archive
Let dogs
be dogs.
A simple thought in a world finding ever more elaborate ways to pamper a dog.
What are we solving for?
What does a dog really want?
The context
Dogs were being pampered everywhere, with all kinds of new products and experiences made for them. Alpo had a different thought.
The idea
Let dogs be dogs. Let them have fun. A playful assignment built around the animal, and the pleasure of being exactly what it is.
Mike’s Hard Lemonade / From the archive
A different kind
of screen.
A campaign made in the early days of YouTube, when its possibilities were still taking shape.
What are we solving for?
What happens when an ad borrows the language of early YouTube?
The context
YouTube had only recently arrived. Its rough, homemade films were creating a very different kind of viewing experience.
The idea
Put serious production effort into making something feel as though it had just been made for YouTube. The apparently unpolished finish was a deliberate creative choice.
Lipton Brisk / From the archive
Rocky.
Sinatra.
Two Super Bowl ads at the start of a long-running campaign, and an early chapter in John’s career.
What are we solving for?
How does a campaign make an entrance on the biggest stage?
The context
Rocky and Sinatra helped launch the campaign on the Super Bowl. They were the opening pieces of work that would continue for years.
The idea
Two very different personalities, brought into the same brand world. These films mark the beginning of that story.
Make It With G Suite / The story behind the work
Make it
together.
A family of films about ideas taking shape through people working together.
What are we solving for?
How do you make collaboration the story?
The context
The tools are one part of the picture. What people are trying to make, and what they bring to one another, gives the story its purpose.
The idea
Follow the act of making something together. Different people, different instincts and the small contributions that move an idea forward.
The Making of Google Workspace / The story behind the work
The making of
Google Workspace.
The people and ideas behind Google Workspace.
What are we solving for?
What goes into the work people see every day?
The context
A making-of film told from inside the work. A chance to look beyond the finished experience and hear from the people shaping it.
The idea
The thinking, the experiments and the craft behind the result. Let the process become part of the story.
Salesforce Video Wall / The story behind the work
A brand you
can walk into.
The first encounter with a company happens before the first conversation. The Salesforce lobby became a place to feel the brand’s sense of possibility.
What are we solving for?
What should it feel like to walk into Salesforce?
The context
The vision began with three audiences: customers arriving to talk about the future, employees coming to work and candidates entering for their first interview. The experience needed to mean something to each of them.
The idea
Create a living environment that inspires wonder. Two years after the original vision, the screens were built. Forests, cascading water and crafted worlds of light and motion brought the space to life.
The vision for each audience
Customers
“This is the company that’s going to take us into the future.”
Employees
“I’m so proud to work here.”
Candidates
“Wow, I really, really want this job.”