Relentlessly dreaming of possibilities & potential for brands, agencies, & people.

Hello, I’m Chris MacNeil currently Executive Creative Director at Deutsch LA. If you were looking for the Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Chris MacNeil by Ellen Burstyn, I'm afraid this isn't the place.

My dad came from humble beginnings in Nova Scotia. He overcame hardships and from that ingrained in me from a young age two pearls of wisdom: everything is possible and there is no alternative to optimism. These ideas became my guiding principle: dream bigger. I’ve applied that to everything I do in my career. And while it hasn’t got this Chris MacNeil an Academy Award, it has got me Effies, Cannes Lions, and One Show Pencils.

My career has been spent making transformative ideas for brands. Ideas that connect with their audience in the ever-changing marketplace, cultures and subcultures they inhabit.

At Deutsch, I lead and build multi-disciplinary teams with outsized ambition. I champion audacious and innovative ideas through complex organizations, and make sure fun is at the heart of everything we do from process to agency and company culture. As part of the creative leadership team, I’ve helped the agency earn recognition as no. 4 on AdAge’s Agency A-List in 2021 and Adweek’s Agency of the Year Finalist in 2023.

In the past I’ve worked at Chandelier, Chiat\Day, and Arnold creating award-winning campaigns and strategies for brands like Target, Walmart, Old Navy, Pepsi, Gatorade, and Visa. I've also collaborated with some of today's most prominent artists including Taylor Swift, Adele, Imagine Dragons, Nick Jonas, Garth Brooks, and Gwen Stefani to create album launches that stoke cultural conversation and fuel fandoms.

My work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, AdAge, Forbes, Creativity, Variety, Rolling Stone, Fortune, Time, The Harvard Business Journal, and was a featured answer on Jeopardy.

I've been very fortunate to do what I do, and to work with extraordinary people. And if you've read this far, I'm sure I'd be lucky to know you too. Say hello, let’s chat.

Email: chris@tophermacneil.com