NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Halo Group, a New York-based branding and marketing communications agency, announced today that Michael Gambino has joined the agency as Executive Creative Director.

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Michael brings more than 17 years of multifaceted large and small agency experience. During his career he has created campaigns for many of the world's greatest brands including Coca-Cola, FedEx, McDonald's, Mars and Verizon. Michael started his career as an Art Director on the launch of MasterCard's renowned "Priceless" campaign, and the "Make It a Bud Light" campaign. Michael also created many memorable ads for Visa's "It's everywhere you want to be" campaign and its many sponsorship campaigns for the Olympics, the NFL, the TONY Awards, the Triple Crown, and NASCAR.

"Mike is the ideal leader to take the helm of Halo's creative team," said Linda Passante, CEO of The Halo Group. "There are a lot of acclaimed ECD's out there but he has all of the impressive big-brand experience while maintaining the small-agency management style needed for Halo, which places a crucial emphasis on an agency-wide inclusionary, creative work-style."

"Halo's culture is what initially piqued my interests," explains Michael. "Many agencies preach the idea of collaboration but it was quickly apparent that Halo lives by this philosophy. Halo's truly a culture of collaborators and there's a refreshing creative freedom and diverse talent found in every department from brand strategy and PR, to social media and digital," Michael explains.  

Recently, Michael was Group Creative Director on Verizon FiOS, co-creating the popular Cable Guy character. Michael also wrote the film, Space Cadet, which is currently in post-production. Michael's work has been featured in Adweek, AOL Fuel the Future, and more than one hundred blog sites internationally. He has also exhibited his paintings and sculptures at galleries nationwide. Winning virtually every award, including the Gold Cannes Lion, Gold One Show Pencils and a few Effies, he has even been nominated for an EMMY Award. A native New Yorker, Michael holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

About The Halo Group

The Halo Group is a marketing communications and branding agency that brings experts in business, branding, advertising and public relations together to work as a single team. Halo helps companies with every experience that a customer has with their brand. The Halo team works alongside a select group of international, national and regional clients who understand the value of talent and professionalism. Halo's work has been honored with some of the industry's top awards; Telly, Webby, and Internet Advertising Competition Awards but, more important, these campaigns are building relationships around the globe. The Halo Group was founded in 1994 and is a member of AAAA, PRSA, NAWBO, and WBNY.

SOURCE The Halo Group