What Johannes Leonardo does

Johannes Leonardo is an independent, full-service creative advertising agency founded in New York City in 2007, operating as a single LLC entity from its Lower Manhattan headquarters at 115 Broadway. The agency serves global enterprise consumer brands across automotive, food and beverage, footwear and apparel, and technology sectors, with a roster that includes adidas, Volkswagen, Kraft Heinz, Instagram/Meta, Eataly, Suntory, and Sprite. Its service portfolio spans five core offerings — Integrated Creative, Brand and Communications Strategy, a Single Point Lead Model for partner alignment, Design and Branding Systems, and Production Services delivered through an in-house studio called Attic22 — packaged into integrated campaigns rather than modular products.

The agency operates on a proprietary philosophy called 'The Consumer Is The Medium™' (a registered trademark), which positions brand ideas as things designed to spread through consumer participation rather than through paid-media interruption. Its go-to-market is enterprise field sales: direct client relationships with major global brands, with new business routed through a dedicated [email protected] channel and supported by a Head of Growth and Director of Business Affairs. Revenue derives from professional-services fees on custom project and retainer engagements; pricing is not publicly disclosed.

The company is privately held with no disclosed external institutional investment, no parent company, and no subsidiaries. It has been recognized by Fast Company as a Top 10 Most Innovative Company in Advertising in 2023, 2025, and 2026 and by MediaPost as Automotive Agency of the Year in 2025. Geographic footprint is concentrated in the United States with a presence in the United Kingdom, and the agency has produced cross-border campaigns for brands headquartered in Italy (Eataly) and Japan (Suntory).

Name

Johannes Leonardo

Legal name

Johannes Leonardo LLC

Website

https://johannesleonardo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Independent creative advertising agency founded in 2007, serving global enterprise brands like adidas, Volkswagen, Kraft Heinz, and Instagram with integrated creative, strategy, design, and in-house production services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Advertising Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181), Graphic Design Services (541430)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

B2B/ABM Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAI)

Keywords

• Creative advertising services
• Brand strategy consulting
• Integrated marketing campaigns
• Advertising agency services
• Creative campaign production

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Creative Agency Services: Johannes Leonardo generates revenue through creative agency fees, including project-based work, campaign development, brand strategy, and production services for major brand clients. The agency also operates an internal studio called Attic22 for production services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Johannes Leonardo is a B2B creative advertising agency that develops brand strategy, integrated creative campaigns, design and branding systems, and production services for major global consumer-brand clients. It builds and executes transformational brand ideas designed to spread through consumer participation rather than paid-media interruption, delivering strategy and creative execution through an in-house production studio called Attic22.

Product overview

Johannes Leonardo is a creative advertising agency that offers a unified suite of marketing and creative services rather than a modular software product. Their core offering includes Integrated Creative, Brand and Comms Strategy, Single Point Lead Model, Design and Branding Systems, and Production Services (via internal studio Attic22). They partner with major brands including adidas, Volkswagen, Kraft-Heinz, and Instagram to create brand ideas worthy of consumer participation. The agency was founded in New York City in 2007 on the belief that 'The Consumer is the Medium.'

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Integrated Creative Core creative service for enterprise brand clients: develops transformational brand ideas and executes them across every medium to achieve business and marketing objectives.
• Brand and Communications Strategy Insights-driven strategic and go-to-market process for enterprise brand clients that uncovers honest, optimistic shared truths and ensures ideas punch above their weight.
• Design and Branding Systems Design service for brand clients centered on the ever-evolving ways consumers experience the brand, creating cohesive visual and verbal identities.
• Production Services (Attic22) Production service for brand clients, delivered through internal studio Attic22 and select external partners to produce work nimbly, cost-effectively, and with executional excellence.

Named customers8 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• EatalyflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerJohannes Leonardo collaborated with Eataly on 'The Piazza', a first-ever brand film featuring soccer legend Alessandro Del Piero. This was Eataly's largest marketing campaign to date, including consumer activation events at North American locations.
• SuntorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJohannes Leonardo created the 'Unusual Your Usual' campaign to launch Suntory's -196 vodka seltzer in the US market, developed as an unusual Japanese campaign for an unusual Japanese product.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Wieden+Kennedy: Independent creative agency headquartered in Portland with global offices; comparable to JL on being founder-led, independent, B2B-creative with marquee brand clients (Nike, Coca-Cola, Levi's) and a parallel cultural-creative orientation.
• Droga5 (Accenture Song): Independent-rooted creative agency now part of Accenture Song; directly comparable as a creative-led shop for premium global brands (The Economist, Hennessy, Amazon) with a similarly integrated creative + production model.
• Mother: Independent creative agency network with NY/London/LA presence; directly comparable as independent, culture-first creative shop serving challenger and global consumer brands with boutique scale and integrated creative services.
• Anomaly: Independent creative agency known for non-traditional, brand-idea-led campaigns; directly comparable to JL for its independent ownership, integrated creative/strategy/production model, and premium brand client roster.
• 72andSunny: Independent creative agency with global offices; comparable to JL as independent creative-led shop working with major consumer brands (Google, ESPN, Adidas) on culturally resonant, integrated creative campaigns.

Emerging players

• GUT (Global Urban Thinkers): Independent creative agency founded ~2021, rapidly grown via Cannes Lions wins; comparable as indie creative peer chasing premium global brands (Apple, Chevrolet, Popeyes) but at earlier scale than JL.

Broad incumbents

• BBDO Worldwide: Global advertising holding-company network (Omnicom); comparable as full-service creative/advertising incumbent competing for the same enterprise brand clients (adidas, VW, Kraft Heinz) with significantly broader geographic and service footprint.
• Ogilvy: WPP-owned global creative/advertising network; comparable as full-service incumbent offering integrated brand creative, advertising, and communications at multinational scale competing for JL's client roster.
• Saatchi & Saatchi: Publicis-owned global creative agency; comparable as broad incumbent offering integrated creative and brand campaigns for major CPG/automotive clients, competing against JL for marquee brand mandates.
• The&Partnership: Network-style creative/comms agency with content production scale; comparable as a larger creative/communications competitor pursuing integrated creative + production mandates for enterprise clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/johannes-leonardo
• Instagraminstagram.com/johannesleonardo/?hl=en
• Xx.com/wearejl

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Johannes Leonardo