A remit spanning craft and generative AI
Ettelson will head a team bringing together specialists in design, copy, creative, production and generative AI. His responsibilities include setting quality standards for content, hybrid production workflows and enterprise tools powered by WPP Open.
The role also involves working with growth and client services, the generative AI studio and local innovation teams to develop craft-led systems for producing content at scale.
Robathon said Ettelson "represents the modern creative leader our industry needs right now", citing his combination of creative direction, storytelling and practical experience with both generative AI and traditional production.
Ettelson said he saw an opportunity to bring conceptual thinking, generative tools and WPP Open together, making it easier to move from rapid ideation to enterprise execution while maintaining visual standards.
From integrated campaigns to inclusion tools
Ettelson brings 15 years of industry experience. At Thinkerbell, he developed and led brand platforms for integrated campaigns whose clients included Apple, Vodafone, Guinness, TPG, BCF and Hahn. Those assignments covered television and out-of-home advertising as well as digital, earned media, social and design.
He also introduced generative AI imaging and film workflows into client work at Thinkerbell, including InclusivelyMade.ai, which WPP Production described as globally recognized. The platform is intended to help creatives, producers, storytellers and clients incorporate disability inclusion from the start of a project.
In his own account of InclusivelyMade.ai, Ettelson says the team built it in a two-week intensive AI workshop. They drew on data from the Inclusively Made framework to integrate checks for tokenism, casting standards and accessibility frameworks into the creative process.
His portfolio traces his career back to junior art director positions at Clemenger BBDO in 2012–2013 and BWM Dentsu in 2013–2015. He then worked as an art director at VCCP from 2015 to 2018, a senior art director at Ogilvy from 2018 to 2021 and an associate creative director at M&C Saatchi from 2021 to 2023, before becoming Thinkerbell's creative director in 2023.
His campaign credits include "Bucket Ball" for KFC, "Coke Shout Outs" for Coca-Cola, "Unforgettable Summer" for BWS and "Life Keeps Coming" for My Muscle Chef. Other clients have included Commonwealth Bank, TAB, ING, GIO, Ancestry.com and Binge.
Ettelson has tutored at AWARD School on two occasions, with his students including a winner and a runner-up. He had previously graduated from the program as a top student.
WPP Production's first year
The appointment comes in the first year of WPP Production. WPP launched the business on January 22, 2026, combining Hogarth with production teams and capabilities from across its network; the transition took effect on February 23. Richard Glasson, Hogarth's global CEO, oversees the combined platform, which WPP says has close to 10,000 people across more than 40 cities.
The consolidation attracted criticism from some production leaders and trade bodies. In a January 26 article gathering industry reactions, shots.net quoted Advertising Producers Association Chief Executive Steve Davies calling it "an attempt by a massive corporation to land grab as much profit as possible".
That report put WPP's market value at £3.1 billion to £3.35 billion at the time, down from around £24 billion in 2017. It also reported that Omnicom was developing its own centralized offering through Omnicom Production.
WPP's first-half results, published August 6, 2026, showed Production was the only one of its three Global Integrated Agencies businesses to grow. Its like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs rose 1.6% in the first half, including 1.3% growth in the second quarter. On the same measure, WPP Media declined 5.4% and WPP Creative fell 4.9%. WPP attributed Production's growth to new business wins and strong performance in APAC and LATAM.
