I make experiences.
Not deliverables.
John McHale | Creative & Design Executive
I am a creative executive with 28 years of experience turning complex business goals into high-impact human experiences. My craft was built the old way: scaling global agencies, launching startups from “zero to one,” managing enterprise accounts under real business pressure. Today I run that same craft through modern AI workflows daily, using them to move faster without cutting quality. The tools change. The judgment behind them doesn’t.
28 Years
Creative career spanning agency, startup & enterprise
4x CCO
Chief Creative Officer across agency, startup & enterprise
$100m +
Enterprise account oversight
at Sapient
Cannes
Gold, Bronze Lions & Jury — the industry's highest honor
Pioneering Product Design
At Sapient, I led the UX strategy and visual design system for what became an absolute icon in the beverage industry: The Coca-Cola Freestyle Machine. This wasn't UI work — it was a fundamental rethinking of how consumers interact with a legacy brand at the point of purchase. The platform contributed to a 400% increase in sales at launch. Today, 50,000+ machines pour 11 million drinks a day.
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Emerging Tech & Immersive Impact
Building on Freestyle’s success, my team developed the world’s first 46” touchscreen vending machine for Coca-Cola (uVend) — a platform that generated a 400% increase in sales and earned a Cannes Lions Gold. We then applied biometric technology for Unilever, turning a smile into currency for Walls — winning another Cannes Lion and Gold at SXSW (one of 17 winners from 1,500 entries).
At the same time, we used creative to serve a purpose larger than commerce. For The End It Movement, we designed and deployed a modified glass-sided box truck at the NCAA Final Four to expose human trafficking networks. The campaign catalyzed an FBI sting operation and earned a United Nations Award for Public Service Advertising.
View uVend details →
Global Leadership & Turnaround
In 2014, I relocated to London to stabilize a Sapient office in crisis — high attrition, declining utilization, and a shrinking client roster. Within 18 months, I had reversed all three. We won AXE, Lloyds Bank, the European PGA Tour, Dove, and British Airways. The AXE campaign drove the brand to become the fastest-growing men's grooming brand in the UK post-launch, with a 91% post-launch brand value increase and a Clio for Best Retail Site..
Some facts about AXE:
Axe became the fastest growing mens grooming brand in the UK after launch
Launched in 15 localizations and 25 languages
Post-launch brand value increase of 91% in the Brand Finance annual report
Winner, 2017 Clio for Best Retail Site
Winner 2017 IAC Award for Best Website
Building from Zero
In 2018, I joined Buckle as its first full-time employee, tasked with building the entire brand and digital product ecosystem from nothing. Operating in the highly regulated insurtech space, I architected the brand identity, product UX, go-to-market strategy, and all marketing infrastructure. The work directly contributed to $91 million in Series A and B funding.
Scaling an Agency & AI Innovation
As a founding CCO at GlueIQ, I helped scale a creative agency from 3 people to 70+ and $14M in revenue. A standout was the Evermore Resort launch — a $1.5 billion purpose-built destination next to Walt Disney World. Using an AI-driven visual storytelling framework before the destination even existed, we generated a 1,058% increase in engagement. We also led comprehensive brand launches for Brightline (America's first high-speed intercity rail) and Reyes Beverage Group (one of the world's largest food & beverage distributors).
Current Practice
Today I operate as a Fractional Chief Creative Officer and Design Consultant, embedded with enterprise organizations as a zero-ramp-up creative leader. Current and recent clients include JPMorgan, DIRECTV, and Lumen Technologies. I work directly in Figma and AI-driven workflows daily — building scalable visual systems and translating complex business goals into pitch-ready narratives.
Currently available for senior full-time creative leadership roles — ECD, CCO, CDO, and CXO — and select fractional engagements with organizations where design and experience are a genuine competitive advantage.
Get in touch: teamgoodguys [at] gmail.com