Alto hires Dan Kroeger and Pierre Janneau-Houllier as ECDs, partners

Alto has brought on a pair of familiar faces, Dan Kroeger and Pierre Janneau-Houllier, as executive creative directors and partners.

Kroeger, a writer, and Janneau-Houllier, an art director, met at 180LA in the mid-2010s. In 2017, they began doing work with JohnXHannes, whose co-founder, Hannes Ciatti, went on to found Alto in 2019. At that time, the pair continued to contribute to Alto projects as freelancers.

Now, they’re ready to make things official. 

“I’ve always wanted to work on the best creative work possible, and be a deeper part of a company that understands its value and what it takes to be unrelenting about the value of conceptual creativity. That requires brave brands to partner with, which is Alto’s reason for being,” said Janneau-Houllier.

“Freelancing has allowed Pierre and me to maintain creative independence and work on projects that have the most potential to affect how people think and act, which is why we’re in this business to begin with,” Kroeger added. “Alto’s central operating system is the same. The depth of their relationships and the trust they’ve built allows Alto to deliver truly impactful work, which is so rare for agencies today.”

The creative duo have also worked for agencies including Wieden+Kennedy and Ogilvy New York on brands such as Beats, Apple and Expedia. 

“I’m honored to extend Alto with two people that I admire for their creativity, their craft but also as great humans,” said Ciatti. “We’ve worked together for more than five years now and we have done some wild things together including casting Ana de Armas as a sex worker, making a poem about some kids who are different featuring Michael K. Williams, Serena Williams and Neymar, and we helped save a 1-year-old baby in need of an organ transplant for Montefiore Einstein. But nothing is more exciting than what's ahead.”

Alto was named an Ad Age Small Agency of the Year in 2022. Its clients include H&M Global, Ketel One Vodka, Upwork, Montefiore Einstein and Expensify.