2024 Creative LIAisons Coaches
Carren O’Keefe
Chief Creative OfficerDigitas UK
London
Carren O’Keefe is the Chief Creative Officer at Digitas UK.
She believes ideas and technology are the two greatest forces for change that the world has ever seen. And when you bring them together? That’s when things get really interesting.
Carren’s career has spanned two continents and three countries. She has led award-winning work for global brands including Nike, Diageo, Google, Hyundai, L’Oreal, and Netflix.
Starting out at AKQA in New York, before moving with the agency to Portland, Oregon where her relationship with Nike began. A decade of pioneering firsts for the brand followed, including the brand’s first mental health-focused platform ‘Mind Sets’, its first shoe drop using AirDrop, first podcast ‘Trained’ and the first Air Max Day in Roblox with ‘Magic’s in the Air’, which was co-created with children.
In 2015, she established AnalogFolk’s Portland base as Partner / Executive Creative Director with Nike as the flagship client – becoming the only female founding partner in the agency’s network at that time. In 2019, she relocated to Amsterdam to help the agency expand to a new international market. During her time at the agency, they were named Campaign’s ‘Global Innovation Agency of the Year’ in 2020 and Contagious Magazine’s ‘Best and Bravest Agencies on the Planet’ in 2022.
Now, Carren is leading a new era of imagination and innovation at Digitas with the agency’s world-class roster of clients like F1, Samsung, and EE.
She’s a regular speaker on stage at industry events including Cannes and The One Show, a contributor to publications like Campaign and Contagious, a passionate mentor with programs such as Creative LIAsons and Next Creative Leaders, and a featured guest or host on podcasts such as ‘Created for Creatives’ by LIA and ‘The Creative Mindset’ by Rei Inamoto.
In addition to accolades for her work, Carren was named one of 27 senior agency leaders who are charting a new course for the industry in Adweek's Creative 100 list. She sits on the BIMA Awards Council and has served as Jury President or juror for every major award show including Cannes Lions, D&AD, Clios, London International Awards, The One Show, Euros and Creative Circle.
She believes ideas and technology are the two greatest forces for change that the world has ever seen. And when you bring them together? That’s when things get really interesting.
Carren’s career has spanned two continents and three countries. She has led award-winning work for global brands including Nike, Diageo, Google, Hyundai, L’Oreal, and Netflix.
Starting out at AKQA in New York, before moving with the agency to Portland, Oregon where her relationship with Nike began. A decade of pioneering firsts for the brand followed, including the brand’s first mental health-focused platform ‘Mind Sets’, its first shoe drop using AirDrop, first podcast ‘Trained’ and the first Air Max Day in Roblox with ‘Magic’s in the Air’, which was co-created with children.
In 2015, she established AnalogFolk’s Portland base as Partner / Executive Creative Director with Nike as the flagship client – becoming the only female founding partner in the agency’s network at that time. In 2019, she relocated to Amsterdam to help the agency expand to a new international market. During her time at the agency, they were named Campaign’s ‘Global Innovation Agency of the Year’ in 2020 and Contagious Magazine’s ‘Best and Bravest Agencies on the Planet’ in 2022.
Now, Carren is leading a new era of imagination and innovation at Digitas with the agency’s world-class roster of clients like F1, Samsung, and EE.
She’s a regular speaker on stage at industry events including Cannes and The One Show, a contributor to publications like Campaign and Contagious, a passionate mentor with programs such as Creative LIAsons and Next Creative Leaders, and a featured guest or host on podcasts such as ‘Created for Creatives’ by LIA and ‘The Creative Mindset’ by Rei Inamoto.
In addition to accolades for her work, Carren was named one of 27 senior agency leaders who are charting a new course for the industry in Adweek's Creative 100 list. She sits on the BIMA Awards Council and has served as Jury President or juror for every major award show including Cannes Lions, D&AD, Clios, London International Awards, The One Show, Euros and Creative Circle.