BK Million Dollar Whopper Generative-AI + Data Science CAMPAIGN
BK MDW
BK Million Dollar Whopper Generative-AI + Data Science CAMPAIGN
BK MDW Voting Campaign
Google CES 2024 "Do More w/ Android" 4-building village. 14 interactive demos. Concept -> Design -> Build.
Google CES 2024 "Do More w/ Android" 4-building vilage
Google CES 2024 "Do More w/ Android" 14 interactive demos
2025 Samsung Mobile "Unpacked" Campaign (London Hologram. No CGI. Actual drone camera capture!)
2025 Samsung Mobile "Unpacked" Campaign
2025 Samsung Mobile "Unpacked" Campaign
2025 Samsung Mobile "Unpacked" Campaign
2025 Samsung Mobile "Unpacked" Campaign
Moncler Genius Global Campaign
Moncler Genius Global Campaign: Times Square + Shibuya Takeovers
Moncler Genius Global Campaign: Times Square + Shibuya Takeovers
Moncler Genius Global Campaign
Moncler Genius Global Campaign
NBCU Peacock Version 1.0. Concept to launch. Product design 2020-2021.
NBCU Peacock Ver 1.0. Concept to launch. Product design 2020-21
NBCU Peacock Ver 1.0. Concept to launch. Product design 2020-21.
NBCU Peacock Ver 1.0. Concept to launch. Product design 2020-21.
NBCU Peacock Ver 1.0. Concept to launch. Product design 2020-21.
P&G Global Beauty. 3D Immersive World (CES 2022)
P&G Global Beauty. 3D immersive World (CES 2022)
P&G Global Beauty CES 2022
P&G Beauty. WebGL Immersive World (CES 2022)
Maserati Grecale Launch 2022
Maserati Grecale Launch 2022
Maserati Grecale Launch 2022
Maserati Grecale "Car Reveal" Launch Film 2022
Marc Jacobs e-commerce. Complete site redesign 2019
Marc Jacobs. Complete site redesign 2019
Marc Jacobs. Complete site redesign 2019
Marc Jacobs complete site redesign 2019
Samsung Mobile. TouchWiz OS product design.
Samsung Mobile. TouchWiz OS product design.
IBM.com
IBM.com/Cognitive Personalized content using Watson AI
Electronic Arts Origin
GEICO App product design (The Martin Agency)
GEICO App product design (The Martin Agency)
Second Life (Creative Director, 2008-2010)
America Online 1996-2001, Client Software Design
Microsoft Surface
Samsung.com/USA
Samsung Mobile Campaigns
Creative Leadership • Product Design • Brand Communications •
Advertising • Experiential (Physical + Digital) • Emerging Technology •
Product Design
NBCUniversal Peacock Version 1.0 streaming video platform design (2019-2020) • Early VR (Second Life 2008-2010, first Creative Director) • Internet 1.0 online services and client software (America Online 1996-2001) • Mobile OS/interface (Samsung Touchwiz) • Games-as-a-service platform design (Electronic Arts Origin) • Pre-iphone mobile startup (kajeet).
Brand Communications
BK (Burger King) 2024 Campaigns: "Million Dollar Whopper" Generative AI contest and voting + BK Village Holiday Campaign • Samsung Mobile 2025 "Unpacked" Campaign • Coca-Cola Global Brand Guidelines Immersive Web • Moncler Genius "MondoGenius Global Campaign" • P&G Beauty "Beauty Sphere" Immersive Web • Maserati Grecale launch • Marc Jacobs e-commerce • Samsung Mobile Galaxy 11 Global Campaign
Experiential + Spatial + Interactive
Google CES 2024: concept to architectural/spatial design to interactive demos. 18,000 square feet. 15 interactive Android demos. • Panasonic WellHouse • Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2025
Agencies
Chief Creative Officer, North America: TCS Interactive (TCS is a 600,000+ employee consultancy with $30B+ revenue)
Executive Creative Director: AKQA, BBH, Havas, Jam3, Monks
VP Product Design: Elephant
Creative Director: CP+B, The Martin Agency, R/GA, The Barbarian Group
Essays
Bio
I designed the AOL Running Man in 1996. Warm colors, a yellow figure carrying a heart for favorites, a globe for the internet. The dominant paradigm was dense, blue, technical. I designed for people who'd never been online before. Their anxiety, not the technology's capability. Three people approved it. It reached hundreds of millions of users. I still don't know if it was good. I know it worked.
That gap between those two things is where most of my career has lived. 25+ years of arriving early and building for humans before the category has a name. The through-line across everything above is the same problem: how do you make something people actually feel, using technology that didn't exist eighteen months ago, inside organizations that weren't designed for any of it?
The question I think about most right now: what does creative leadership look like when AI can generate everything and judgment is the only scarce resource? I write about that, and more, at WanderingWonderingStar.com. Some essays about AI, creative leadership, and the future of the industry. Some about growth, loss, and staying human while everything accelerates brutally and beautifully. Two kinds of writing live there. If you came for one, the other might change you.
For a complete portfolio with case studies: joroan at gmail dot com
For a complete portfolio with case studies, please reach out: JoRoan at gmail dot com
~
Burger King 2024-2025 Campaigns
"Million Dollar Whopper" Campaign: Generative AI + UGC + Menu Innovation Through Data Science
In the billion-dollar battleground of fast-food innovation, where McDonald's had 6x more app users than BK, we faced a critical inflection point. Mobile orders had exploded 600% in six years and were projected to represent 60-70% of total QSR sales. We needed more than a campaign. We needed a digital revolution that would transform Burger King's competitive position while staying true to our "Have It Your Way" DNA.
The Million Dollar Whopper became our answer: an audacious AI-powered innovation engine that turned millions of customers into menu co-creators.
This wasn't just crowdsourcing; it was the democratization of product development at unprecedented scale. We built a generative AI experience where customers could dream up their wildest Whopper combinations and instantly see them transformed into mouthwatering product shots, with each one representing a potential million-dollar idea.
The campaign shattered every internal benchmark. In a fewweeks, we achieved 1.33 million new loyalty program signups, crushing our internal target and significantly outperformed our previous best promotion.
Users didn't just sign up; they immersed themselves, spending an average of 5 minutes 45 seconds creating and perfecting their culinary masterpieces.
Together, they generated 3+ million AI Whopper images, submitted 1.43 million contest entries featuring 408,000 unique topping combinations, and voluntarily shared 360,000 BK ads, creating 226 days worth of branded content.
The business impact was immediate and profound: a double-digit digital sales increase during the campaign period, a huge double-digit surge in average daily digital platform visitors, and 4.1 billion impressions with 100% positive or neutral sentiment.
The three finalist Whoppers didn't just make it to menus. They sold out nationwide, proving that customer-created products could match or exceed traditional R&D.
But the true victory runs deeper than metrics. We transformed a competitive disadvantage into a breakthrough advantage, creating the most successful digital acquisition campaign in BK's history while building an innovation pipeline powered by real customer desires.
We proved that when you give your audience not just a voice but genuine creative power, backed by cutting-edge technology, they'll create something more compelling than any boardroom could imagine.
The Million Dollar Whopper wasn't just a campaign; it was a new model for how brands and customers can build the future together.
Samsung Mobile
2025 "Unpacked" Event teaser campaign: Hologram Activation (London), DOOH, FOOH, Social
Watch the film!
Google CES 2024 Experience
Google CES 2024. Android "Do More With Google" experience.
18,000 sq feet. 4 buildings. 14 interactive Android feature demos. From concept to design to fabrication and construction.
Google CES 2024. Video Fly-through of the experience.
Google CES 2024. Interior. Android Demos.
Google CES 2024. Interior. Bard A.I. demos.
Google CES 2024. Interior. Generative A.I. mobile phone wallpapers interactive demo.
Moncler Genius. Global Campaign.
In 8 weeks from concept to launch, we created and produced the Moncler Genius MONDOGENIUS global campaign for its unprecedented fall 2021 fashion shows.
The global live-streamed event broadcast from 5 cities, reached 2.3 billion people around the world with more than 299 million views. Activations included a simultaneous New York Times Square and Tokyo Shibuya DOOH takeovers.
Hero film • DOOH New York Times Square • DOOH Tokyo Shibuya • Live broadcast • Instagram • Facebook • TikTok • YouTube • Twitter • WeChat • Weibo • Douyin • Branding • Collateral • Print • OLA
The global live-streamed event broadcast from 5 cities, reached 2.3 billion people around the world with more than 299 million views. Activations included a simultaneous New York Times Square and Tokyo Shibuya DOOH takeovers.
Hero film • DOOH New York Times Square • DOOH Tokyo Shibuya • Live broadcast • Instagram • Facebook • TikTok • YouTube • Twitter • WeChat • Weibo • Douyin • Branding • Collateral • Print • OLA
Moncler "MONDOGENIUS" Global Campaign 2021
NBCUniversal Peacock Streaming Service Version 1.0
Complete Product Design (Concept to Design to Launch)
In an era of endless choice, decision paralysis had become the nightly defining pain point of modern streaming video entertainment. Viewers weren't losing minutes—they were losing their love of television, trapped in endless scrolling through mediocre recommendations.
Elephant, in partnership with NBCUniversal, saw that audiences craved curation, not just content. With our passion for product design and storytelling heritage, we could reimagine what streaming should feel like with an original concept.
In 12 months, we transformed the streaming experience, putting human connection back at its heart. The result: 10 million subscribers in month one, proving that in a world of infinite choice, viewers want better options, not more.
Maserati Grecale. Launch Campaign.
Maserati Grecale Global Launch Campaign 2022
Maserati Grecale Global Launch Campaign 2022
MarcJacobs.com e-comm site design
MarcJacobs.com e-comm site design
IBM Digital AOR at Havas
Site design for Cloud, Cognitive, think and more. Marketing. Technology proof of concepts for Watson A.I.
GEICO Mobile App and Site Design
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Samsung TouchWiz Mobile OS Interface and Interactive Design
Samsung Galaxy Global Campaign