. . .

About me

Currently, I'm the co-founder and CCO at AntKiss.

A true creative leadership is rarely loud. It shows up in the work, in building the kind of organisations where great work becomes inevitable. I spent 25 years trying to be as close as possible to that definition.

With a career that has taken me from JWT and Leo Burnett to Ogilvy, M&C Saatchi, and Publicis, spanning Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, I have learned that the most lasting thing a creative leader it's a culture, that goes beyond campaigns.

In 2025, I was ranked the #1 ECD in Asia by OneShow. In 2026, The Drum named me among the Top 100 Most Awarded Creative Directors in the world, with Vaseline's Transition Body Lotion recognised as the #2 most awarded FMCG campaign globally.

Behind that sits a body of work built on cultural intelligence and genuine human insight. Over 300 awards across my career, including 7 Gold Cannes Lions, a Clio Grand Prix, a OneShow Grand Prix, and a piece permanently archived at MoMA New York. I helped Ogilvy Singapore become Asia Agency of the Year at Cannes 2024, the first time the network had ever claimed that title.

I believe that the most powerful thing creativity can do is identify the cultural tensions that brands are uniquely placed to resolve, and turn them into work that makes those brands genuinely relevant and genuinely cared about. The Vaseline campaign that earned Singapore its first-ever Cannes Lions Grand Prix didn't start with a brief for an ad. It started with a cultural truth: that transgender women in Thailand were undergoing profound physical changes with almost no skincare guidance, in a society offering little support. Vaseline had the platform to do something about it.

In late 2025, I co-founded AntKiss, built on a deeply held belief: that brands need a meaningful connection with people, based not only on numbers but mainly on chemistry and emotion. Within months, the agency secured contracts with the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, YalleValue, and some sport brands.

I lecture, mentor, and judges at some of the industry's most respected platforms.

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Cristiano's achievements

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Top 25Executive Creative Director Top 25
Contributor:
Cristiano has been a Contributor since 30th January 2017.

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6 Featured

Creativepool Annual

Listing of award wins in Creativepool's awards

Annual 2026

Top 100 Creative Leaders

Top 100 Creative Leaders

Annual 2022

IKEA for Aliens

IKEA for Aliens for IKEA Silver Graphic

Annual 2018

Local Heroes Fucecchio

Local Heroes Fucecchio for Local Council of Fucecchio, Tuscany, Italy Bronze Wave

Annual 2017

Shortlisted

Creative Leader of the Year Shortlisted

Judging

Cristiano Tonnarelli has sat on the Creativepool Annual jury.

Annual 2019 Judge Emerging Agency of the Year

Featured work

Work picked by the Creativepool editors for the homepage.

Vaseline

21 June 2024

Co-Worker for the day

Co-Worker for the day

20 May 2022

IKEA for Aliens

IKEA for Aliens

4 March 2022

Lie Detector

17 July 2020

Sweat for your dreams

Sweat for your dreams

21 March 2020

°Tweet form a prison

°Tweet form a prison

3 October 2016

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