Michael Fanuele

Michael Fanuele has been lucky to spend most of his career as a brand strategist working with some pretty awesome people at some pretty great places, including JWT, Havas, and Fallon. He is one of the most acclaimed strategic leaders in the industry, having won pitches and cracked market-moving, award-winning work for brands including Dos Equis, Arby’s, Cadillac, Charles Schwab, Cheerios, Unilever, The Cosmopolitan, The Economist, and Volvo. He has in fact sold tea in China.

Most recently, Michael served as the Chief Creative Officer at General Mills, a role in which he tried to inspire a big food company to be a good food company. Some progress was made, and some billion-dollar brands, like Cheerios and Nature Valley, actually grew for the first time in a decade. In this role, Michael also built an internal creative agency and ran one of the largest agency pitches of 2016, a review that was noted for its demand that agencies field diverse teams.

In addition to winning a record-breaking five Account Planning Group awards, he has helped brands create communications that have garnered Effies, One Show Pencils, and Cannes Gold Lions. He has made it to the final round of every pitch he’s led this century, and his new business efforts have helped JWT and Havas win “Agency of The Year” and Fallon score “Comeback Agency of The Year.” Michael has done politics, stand-up comedy, and written for The Harvard Business Review, Ad Age, and The Star Tribune. Michael is currently the Founder/CEO of Talk Like Music, a consultancy that helps people, places, and brands become more inspiring.

Although he has a native New York spirit, Michael’s loved a life that has taken him around the world with his wife and three totally-awesome young sons. He watches a lot of little league soccer, plays far too little tennis, and loves wiling away a weekend with good friends and daunting recipes.