VIA has appointed award-winning creative leader Matt O’Rourke as chief creative officer, effective immediately, as the Portland, Maine-based advertising and marketing agency looks to sharpen its creative vision and support continued growth. O’Rourke will report to CEO Leeann Leahy, join VIA’s executive leadership team, and oversee creative direction across the agency’s client roster, which includes brands such as Arm & Hammer, Klondike, and Golden Corral.
Leahy said O’Rourke fits the agency’s current needs as a creative executive who blends cultural relevance with performance accountability, describing him as a leader who understands evolving audience behavior and media dynamics while keeping ideas strategically and commercially effective. O’Rourke arrives at VIA after co-founding SUPER SERIOUS and holding senior creative roles at major agencies including Wieden+Kennedy, Crispin, Grey, and McCann. Over his career, he has earned multiple Cannes Lions and other industry recognition, and has led campaigns for brands including Old Spice, Volvo, Taco Bell, Burger King, Nintendo, and MasterCard, with experience on multiple Super Bowl efforts. VIA highlighted Old Spice’s “Muscle Music” as an example of O’Rourke’s work creating culture-breaking moments through inventive, tech-forward storytelling.
In his new role, O’Rourke said he plans to help elevate brands to “irrational loyalty” by designing experiences people actively want to participate in—positioning creativity as a durable growth driver rather than campaign-by-campaign attention. He said VIA’s ambition to make work that “shows up in culture” was a key reason he joined the agency at this stage.
KEY QUOTES:
“Matt is exactly the kind of creative leader this moment demands. He represents a new generation of creativity, one that understands how audiences behave, how media evolves, and how creative is expected to perform in the real world. Matt is the right leader for the future of our business because he knows that today’s most engaging and entertaining ideas must also be accountable, strategic, and commercially effective.”
Leeann Leahy, CEO, VIA
“VIA has a clear understanding that creativity is a driver of growth, not an afterthought. From our first conversation, it was clear this is a team focused on making work people genuinely care about, work that shows up in culture, not just in campaigns. That ambition, and the moment VIA is in right now, made this an easy decision.”
Matt O’Rourke, Chief Creative Officer, VIA
