Robert Riccardi

Robert is a local guy, having grown up in the Bay Area and graduated from UC Berkeley.
Some 20 years ago, he joined GS&P to help run the agency’s then-largest account, American Isuzu Motors. In the first few years that followed, he played a key role in landing accounts such as Porsche of North America, the California Milk Processor Board (“got milk”), HP, eBay and others.
In 1996 he was named one of six partners and took over the management of the account services department. He is now the agency’s managing partner, a title he shares with Derek Robson.
In his time at the agency, Robert has managed a wide variety of clients, including packaged-goods accounts such as Frito-Lay and Häagen-Dazs, automotive companies such as Hyundai and Chevrolet, and technology accounts such as eBay, Netflix and Adobe. He has also had extensive experience with global brands.
At a critical time in GS&P’s evolution, Robert helped identify and integrate the agency’s digital talent together with its more traditional practitioners. He was also instrumental in organizing a more cohesive strategy group that combines classic account planning and communications strategy. In part, this integration of disciplines was key to GS&P being recognized as Digital Agency of the Year as well as Agency of the Decade.
Robert has always been a very humanistic and empathetic leader, understanding that change and evolution in advertising is a constant, but he believes that it’s motivated people who make real change a reality. “Models are great; everyone’s got one. But knowing how to get people excited about and invested in new opportunities and new ideas is far more important than any theory or model,” he said.
All in all, Robert is a pretty decent dude. Ask people. His wife, his two dogs and his family thinks so—at least he hopes they do.