Chris McCarthy

The ZOO is Google’s creative think tank for brands & agencies.

Chris leads the ZOO’s team of creative strategists working with Google’s biggest clients across EMEA, bringing deep skills in branding & consumer insights. With a background in creative agencies, he has spent over 20 years building brands, specialising in strategic planning & creative services for major international clients. Before joining Google, Chris was International Strategy Director at CLM BBDO in Paris, heading up global/regional strategy for the agency’s biggest clients including PepsiCo, P&G, & Wrigley.

Based in Paris, he is British by nationality, bilingual in English/French, with fluent Spanish & a completely international culture & outlook, having lived & worked across Western Europe as well as the US. He has an MA in Modern Languages from Oxford University.

Chris is a regular speaker at industry events & conferences (Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Dubai Lynx Festival, Red Apple Festival, Cristal Innovation & Digital Congress, Le Hub Paris, Turkish Marketing Association, Bonjour Brand Paris, Paris Luxury Summit) & has taught at several Paris business schools. He was President of the Brand Culture Jury at the Cristal Festival 2014, Jury member for the Young Lions at Cannes International Festival of Creativity 2015, for the Irish Young Lions 2016, for the Festival of Media MENA 2016 & for the Future Lions at Cannes 2017.