LOS ANGELES, USA // Pelle Sjoenell is Worldwide Chief Creative Officer at BBH. Based in LA, he oversees the creative work for all of BBH’s offices, for brands including Google, Nike, Samsung, Audi, E! and T-Mobile. Sjoenell stepped into his current role in 2016, taking on the prestigious position previously held by Sir John Hegarty.
Sjoenell joined BBH in 2007. Following three years in New York, he moved to the West Coast to launch BBH Los Angeles. Forever on a quest to innovate and move the industry forwards, Sjoenell started the office with the ambition to explore the intersection of advertising, entertainment and technology. One initiative is The Creative Studio, a joint venture launched with entertainment talent manager Scooter Braun, to create branded and unbranded entertainment.
Throughout his career, Sjoenell has been behind an array of award-winning work, including “Oasis – Dig Out Your Soul in the Streets” – which won the Titanium Lion at Cannes, “Clean Your Balls” for AXE – the most talked about campaign in social media in the year that it launched, and “Dear Sophie” for Google – which was named Time Magazine’s Best Ad of the Year. BBH has been awarded more than 30 Cannes Lions under his leadership, including two Grand Prix Lions.
Sjoenell is a passionate advocate for gender equality. He serves on the advisory council for The Women in Public Service Project, a global initiative at the Wilson Centre in Washington, DC which mobilizes young women on issues of critical importance in public service.
He also works with the Creative Alliance to address gender equality and justice around the world. In 2015, BBH partnered with Civic Nation as a member of the Creative Alliance to launch the United State of Women, a movement convened by the Obama White House.
In 2018, Sjoenell became a bestseller. He and fellow jurors from the 2017 Cannes Lions Entertainment Jury hit #1 on Amazon with their collection of essays, The Art of Branded Entertainment.
Prior to BBH, Sjoenell spent part of his career as the CEO of King as well as a stint at Fallon in Minneapolis. He studied Art Direction & Communication at the Berghs School of Communication in Sweden, and now resides in LA with his wife, Pauline, and their three children.