ANDREW SWINAND, CEO of The Leo Burnett Group
“I have had the pleasure of working with Eric for many years across multiple accounts at Leo Burnett. In this capacity, I have got to know Eric both personally and professionally. On the personal side, Eric is a pleasure to work with...kind, generous, and the type of person you would want to spend time with each day. On the professional side, Eric has created some of the most iconic work at Leo Burnett on accounts like Allstate and UHC. Two thumbs up.”
AVERY GROSS, ECD at VSA Partners
“Over the many years we worked under the same roof, Eric consistently displayed the kind of creativity, meticulousness, intelligence and thoughtfulness that add up now to what is simply the most accurate thing I can think to say on his behalf: He's he best writer I've ever worked with. Time and again, I watched him craft his way to what I can only call "bulletproof conceits" for just about every creative challenge, conceptual or executional, that came his way. With a writing style that straddles the line between hyper-articulate and disarmingly conversational, he can stretch from the funny to the profound with equal ability and ease.
Of course there's making, and there's leading. His maturity and willingness to listen were a formula for trust-building with complex clients like Esurance, Coke, and Invesco, and make for an invaluable mentoring resource for his teams. He's a Legitimate Grownup Presence and I can't think of a room you could air-drop him into where in short order he wouldn't have a handle on things. Eric's a writer's writer, a fantastic mentor, and an incredibly valuable asset for any agency or client who absolutely needs to get it right, and make it great.”
DAVID NARDECCHIA, fmr. Head of Brand Marketing at Invesco
“Eric was a lead creative for our account (Invesco) for nine years. His voracious appetite to understand our firm, the category, competitors and market trends was evident from day one and stayed consistent throughout. A quality of his I’ve always admired is his ability to persistently inquire for needs and purpose. No conversation with Eric was ever wasted. He took chunks or morsels from our discussions to build coherent reflections that later became highly creative and appropriately disruptive executions within a conservative financial services category. It’s no coincidence that during Eric’s partnership with our firm, Invesco rose from oblivion to a top-ten leader in Brand Equity and Awareness (Cogent Research: Advisor Brandscape 2017). He’s a masterful wordsmith capable of creating voice and intention that unfolds and inspires over time. Best of all, Eric is a sincere blast to work with. There’s a lot on the line when you hire an agency partner, but I found our best work came from balancing the seriousness of the business with the inherent fun and creative talent Eric brought to the table.”
JEANIE CAGGIANO, EVP/Executive Creative Director, Studio Lead at Leo Burnett
“Over the years, I’ve seen Eric grow into a leader of brands (he’s a creative director who’s half a strategist), a charmer of clients and a teacher to the creatives who work for him. For the last three years, he was one of the CDs in my group at Leo Burnett, leading UnitedHealthcare and Centrum, as well as doing various pitches and projects for other clients, including Samsung and Allstate. Perhaps Eric’s best trait is his delightful willingness to do what he calls “hug the problem”. No matter how difficult, how complicated, how downright awful the assignment, Eric hugs it hard and doesn’t let go until he comes up with an elegant, simple solution. And one that gets results (look at his work for Invesco and UnitedHealthcare).
As a writer, he creates big, enduring campaigns across media. He can write a manifesto better than anyone I have ever seen. And his presentation skills are amazing—he can charm a room and then disarm it with his wit and intelligence. VERY helpful in a pitch…and a difficult client meeting. Whether you need a creative director who’ll get better creative out of your client (and your people), or you need a killer writer in his own right, Eric is a talent any agency would be proud to have.”
MONA SONG, Art Director at Leo Burnett
“Working with Eric has been one of the most valuable and creatively inspiring experiences I’ve had in my career thus far. To say that he’s an amazing writer and a creative director is just a fraction of what he brings to the table every day. He’s also just an awesome human being to work with and to learn from. His ability to see a project from the details of a single combination of words, art direction and design to making sure the idea stays true to what made it great in the first place is truly astounding. He's the bar you want to set for yourself if you are a young creative.”
AMANDA BUTTS, ECD at Anthem
“Eric’s enthusiasm for good ideas is contagious. Two of my favorite parts of this job have been: 1. When Eric and I sit in a room together bouncing around ideas for a brand and we hit on something interesting. 2. When we are meeting with creative teams to help them sort through, focus, form and bring to life their own ideas. Eric has a knack for taking inklings, idea-lets and half-thoughts and crafting them into smart, fully-fleshed-out strategic campaigns. He is a master craftsman of words. And his skills are equally strong with strategy and client relationships. From small, quick turnaround projects to large scale, multi-year, multi-platform campaigns -- Eric makes sure the brand idea shines through with clarity and wit.
And his presentation skills are no less impressive. He isn’t the type of creative you keep “back at the ranch”. He’s the person who holds the client’s attention, earns their trust, and wins them over with both the ideas and the way he packages them up and makes them unquestionably buyable. Because he is a master of “idea” he is fluid across all media, consumer journeys and messaging -- from traditional to retail, to digital, social, and brand purpose. And his enthusiasm for good ideas in all forms motivates and inspires younger creatives looking to learn from a proven mentor.”
NATALIE DAHL, Producer at Leo Burnett
“Eric is truly one of the most talented high-level creatives I've worked with. His ability to lead not only a whole team of creatives, but lead the entire team of clients is something that I haven't seen before. The level of trust and respect that he's gained with clients is incredibly impressive and it's clear to me that the rest of the creative team looks up to him and is continuously learning from him. Eric's experience and talent is invaluable and his personality and humor is infectious. He's operating at a level of equal creative talent and leadership that is rare to find. He enhances all the work he touches, and pushes me to be a better producer for it!”
CHRIS CLARK, Executive Producer at Squeak E. Clean Music
“As a creative person, music supervisor and producer, I thrived in every collaboration with Eric over our years working together. He motivates, delivers insights and gives creative direction that are tasteful and constructive, and allows for a shared vision that ultimately creates a better product for the client and better experience for an audience. His music taste constantly challenged me to be better at my job, and working side-by-side to enhance his creative vision always feels like a partnership instead of a task. Oh, he's a good guy too.”
TOM KERAMIDAS, SVP/Exec. Producer at Leo Burnett
“Eric's a fabulous creative. I love working with him. He has a fast mind and has a deep understanding of production. This makes him a versatile problem solver on production. He can spot the issue a mile away and has a fix in mind before you even bring up the problem. I've worked with him on VFX jobs, emotional storytelling, dialogue-based humor and more technical B to B assignments. He gets it all. His voice changes with the assignment. He's a pro.”