PORTLAND, Maine, Jan. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — VIA, an award-winning advertising and marketing agency based in Portland announced today that Matt O’Rourke will join the agency as Chief Creative Officer, effective immediately. In his new role, he will report to CEO Leeann Leahy and will join the executive leadership team. He will be responsible for helping to set a creative vision for the agency and overseeing the creative direction for all clients as the agency continues its growth trajectory.
“Matt is exactly the kind of creative leader this moment demands,” said VIA CEO Leeann Leahy. “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.”
Matt joins VIA after co-founding SUPER SERIOUS and holding senior creative leadership roles across the agency landscape, including at Wieden+Kennedy, Crispin, Grey, and McCann. His work has been widely recognized by the industry, earning multiple Cannes Lions awards and distinctions such as ADWEEK’s Best Advertising Voices—reflecting a career defined by creative leadership and boundary-pushing ideas.
Matt has led award-winning work for globally recognized brands including Old Spice, Volvo, Taco Bell, Burger King, Nintendo, and MasterCard, and has played a key creative role in multiple Super Bowl campaigns. His work consistently creates moments that break into culture and reshape how brands engage with people. A standout example is Old Spice’s “Muscle Music,” a playful, digitally driven activation that turned Terry Crews’ own muscles into musical instruments—an inventive collision of physical performance and technology that became a widely shared cultural moment.
At VIA, Matt will be focused on elevating brands to irrational loyalty and inviting customers to be participants in value creation. He believes every medium has a role to play, but that modern creative leadership is about designing brand experiences people actively want to participate in; experiences that create long term value, not just short term attention.
“VIA has a clear understanding that creativity is a driver of growth, not an afterthought,” said Matt O’Rourke. “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.”
About VIA:
Helping clients grow through creativity since 1993, VIA is a full-service advertising and marketing agency located at the historic Baxter Library in Portland, Maine. VIA clients include: Unilever (Klondike), Arm & Hammer, and Golden Corral among others. They have been recognized as a Small Agency of the Year and a Top 10 Place to Work by Ad Age, and a Best Workplace by Inc. For more information, please visit www.TheVIAAgency.com.
Contact:
Sara Vinson
[email protected]
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bc12c92b-c41d-4942-b1fe-02c8fff6e839