2026 Virtual Coaches
Ioana Filip
Founder & Chief Creative Officer
International Waters
Bucharest
Ioana Filip is a globally recognized creative leader, published author, and innovator with a track record of transforming agencies and delivering award-winning work across global markets. She has led creative work for some of the world’s biggest brands, including The Coca-Cola Company, SC Johnson, Vodafone, Reckitt Benckiser, and many more driving digital-first innovation and groundbreaking campaigns.
She has held executive creative leadership roles at McCann Worldgroup, Energy BBDO, and MRM, leading both local and global teams. At Energy BBDO in Chicago, she led the creative work for SC Johnson and helped redefine the agency’s creative structure, building a content and social hub that expanded beyond traditional teams to include content creators, cinematographers, influencers, photographers and musicians. In London, as Chief Creative Officer of MRM, she spearheaded a transformation of the agency’s creative product before she was promoted to a Global ECD role in McCann WG.
In 2025, Ioana founded International Waters, a full-service creative agency, designed for modern marketing. Within less than a year since its foundation and a chartered team blending together internationally awarded creatives, the agency is already developing work for clients like The Coca-Cola Company, SC Johnson, Lidl and many more across EU and US markets.
Her work has earned over 180 awards, multiple Cannes Lions including Golds and Titanium shortlists, as well as recognitions from D&AD, One Show, Clio, Eurobest, Webby, Euro Effies and many more. In 2022, she ranked among the top 10 most awarded ECDs in the U.S. and in 2023, she was in the top 20, according to The One Show rankings. She has also served as a juror for every major global awards show and has spoken at international festivals, including Eurobest, where she was the first Romanian speaker.
Ioana is no stranger to breaking barriers. She was the first female Romanian juror at Clio Awards, a Forbes "30 Under 30" honoree, and named Young Professional of the Year by the IAA. She has built and restructured creative teams, pioneered new digital and content models, and led agencies to consecutive wins as Digital Agency of the Year.
Beyond advertising, Ioana is a published author and a passionate advocate for the intersection of creativity and technology. Her curiosity led her to study artificial intelligence at MIT and advise startups in leading incubators like Chicago’s 1871. Her ability to merge storytelling with tech-driven creativity has positioned her as a driving force in the evolution of modern brand experiences.