Jake Barrow
Chief Creative Officer, VML Czechia
Jake grew up in Red Cliffs, Australia – population 2,600. It was here, when voted “Funniest Kid in High School”, he believes his advertising career was born. After placing second in Australia’s prestigious AWARD School, he found himself working at some of Australia’s top advertising agencies.
Jake’s innovative approach to creativity has established him as one of Australia’s most awarded advertising creatives. He has won over 500 industry awards, including 34 Cannes Lions, with 7 gold and a Grand Prix. He has twice been ranked in the Top 20 creatives in the world and in 2024, he was ranked 6th ECD in the world by The Drum. During his 6-year leadership tenure at VML Melbourne & Sydney, he steered the agency to a top 5 ranking in Australia for five consecutive years. This period also saw the agency earn back-to-back Campaign Brief Agency of the Year titles in 2023 & 2024, the 6th Regional Agency of the Decade at Cannes Lions, and the 2023 Global Agency of the Year at the London International Awards. His leadership also saw the agency triple in size.
Other career highlights have included creating a global dog adoption movement, having a TV ad on display in an art gallery, launching a feature film, strapping Fit Bits to chickens, replacing phones with KitKats and having work featured in the book “100 Ideas that Changed Advertising”. He was a guest lecturer at AWARD School for 5 years running, has spoken at the Australian Film Television and Radio School and delivered panel talks at SXSW Sydney. He has judged at Spikes Asia twice, New York Festivals, AWARD Awards, Creative Pool and was on the Shortlist Jury for Cannes Lions.
In late 2024, Jake embraced a new challenge, moving to the other side of the world to become the Chief Creative Officer at VML Czechia. His ambition: to forge a European creative powerhouse. In under a year, he has already launched the country's biggest entertainment platform and led the agency to win the Czech Republic’s first-ever Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. Outside of advertising Jake enjoys making homemade salami and is an avid supporter of Bohemians 1905, the best football team in Prague – quite possibly the world.
