Chad Verly
Creative director
Cramer-Krasselt
Age: 38
Hometown: Longmont, Colorado
Education: Bachelor’s in journalism, University of Oregon; master’s in communications, art direction, Virginia Commonwealth University
Previous position: Vice president, creative director, Energy BBDO
Draw of new position?
“CK is a nice-sized agency; it’s kind of a mid-sized agency, which I’ve always liked that size. … It is an agency that’s focused primarily on quality work over growth. I feel like they have their priorities straight. It’s not all about the bottom line; it’s about doing good work.”
Industry trends of interest?
“Instead of creating a commercial or instead of creating a print ad like we used to do, it’s more about brands creating entertainment or brands creating content for an intended audience with a more keen awareness of how intelligent their audiences are nowadays. Not many people like to be marketed to directly … it’s not selling anymore, it’s relating to people on a personal level and reaching people where they’re at as opposed to trying to get them to move into your headspace.”
In your free time?
“Like a lot of people my age, I have kids so I spend probably 95 percent of my time with them. The main hobby I’ve taken up as of late has actually been cycling. Now that I’m moving up to Milwaukee, up to Wisconsin, I’m hoping to get some more fishing in. I’m a bit of an outdoorsman, which is a little harder to do from where I’ve lived for the past 15 years in Chicago.”
Impressions of Milwaukee?
“It feels like a very livable city that’s big enough that there’s a lot of interesting things going on but small enough that it just feels very livable. My first impressions are that the pace of life up here and work-life balance is a lot more realistic and down to earth than it is in Chicago. People are nice; it’s pretty good vibes overall.”
