Overview

Company Summary

At DDB, we believe that creativity is the most powerful force in the business—while we happen to be an advertising agency, our goal is to help our partners apply creativity across their entire business in any way that will help drive growth for their business. We thrive on finding new ways to build brand experiences that get noticed, people feel something and live naturally in the same world as their consumers. On top of that, we love what we do and we are willing to roll up our sleeves and work alongside our clients. We see ourselves creating products, creating movements, creating habits, and influencing our culture, all in a way that ties back to measurable, meaningful business results. We want to be a beacon for new trends and ideas; we want to be a great place to start or advance our employees’ careers, a place where employees, clients and partners come to harness the power of creativity. We believe in the power of creativity to fuel business growth, and while creativity is at the heart of what we do, it is a means, not an end. Our benchmark is our ability to create successful ideas that tap into our world and the industry’s changing landscape. And our long-term success will be dictated not just by our ability to tell the world what we believe, but by our ability to change the way the world thinks about our industry.

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Staff

Total Number of Employees

Office Employees: 201-500
Total US: 500+
Total Worldwide: 500+

Paul Gunning
President/CEO, DDB Chicago
Paul Gunning, a 13-year veteran of DDB Worldwide, is President & CEO of DDB Chicago, where he leads a staff of nearly 400 integrated advertising specialists. The agency prides itself on long-term client partnerships, innovative award-winning work and building deeper consumer connections to brands such as Capital One, McDonald’s, State Farm, and Mars, Inc.

Prior to assuming the DDB Chicago role, Paul served as DDB Worldwide’s Chief Digital Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Tribal Worldwide since 2008. As CEO of Tribal Worldwide, he headed a global network of over 60 offices and was very hands on with senior clients helping to guide them in the changing dynamics of the digital world. As Chief Digital Officer for DDB, Paul helped the agency expand its services and incorporate digital skills sets into DDB offices. In both roles, he maintained senior-level relationships with the Internet’s most powerful brands including Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Apple, and more.

Paul is an experienced and sought after speaker with a notable presence at international advertising, mobile and social media conferences and often quoted as a digital expert in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Businessweek. In 2012, Business Insider named him one of the top 20 most important people in Mobile Advertising. Additionally, he was a member of the first-ever, Mobile Jury at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity. In 2009, Paul was featured on the cover of Advertising Age when Tribal Worldwide was named to the Top 10 Global A-List. That same year, he was celebrated in Crain’s Business "40 Under 40" issue.

Before joining Tribal, Paul held a variety of positions at interactive advertising agencies, hi-tech merchandising companies and promotions agencies. In addition to his professional experience, Paul earned an MBA in Marketing from DePaul University in 1999.

Jack Perone
Chief Strategy Officer
Jack serves as Chief Strategy Officer of DDB Chicago, joining the agency in 2014. Over his 30-year career, Jack has been known for his dynamic, thought-provoking style and strategic outlook on brands, business and the evolving world of consumer communications. He previously served as VP, Director of Planning and Global Planning Director at J. Walter Thompson in Toronto and New York. A multi-award-winning planner, Perone is active in the planning community serving as a 2012 Effie Judge, a 2013 Cannes Young Marketer Judge and a 2014 APG Canada Board Member. Throughout his career, Jack has provided strategic thought leadership for a variety of clients including Walmart, Tim Hortons, McDonald’s, Kohler and State Farm to name a few.

Mark Hansen
Managing Director
Prior to joining DDB, Hansen was at TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles where he led the day-to-day operation of the Visa account. Most recently he led Visa’s 2012 Global Olympics initiative, with the “Go World” campaign and “cheer” platform implemented in more than 70 countries. Prior to Visa, Mark led the Gatorade REPLAY campaign which was recognized by the most prestigious award shows including Effies, Cannes Lions, One Show, Clios, D&AD, Andy’s and was nominated for a sports Emmy.

Prior to joining TBWA, Mark was Sr. Partner, Group Management Director with JWT, where he led the Nestlé business.

Diane Jackson
Chief Production Officer
Diane Jackson is one of the top production executives in the U.S., responsible for broadcast, print, and digital production for leading, award-winning brands such as Mars Wrigley, McDonald’s, State Farm, and Capital One Bank. She is recognized for being decisive, passionate, and driven about both creativity and Italian footwear.

During her first stint at DDB from 2000 to 2003, Diane produced TalkValue work for Energizer, McDonald’s, Anheuser-Busch, JC Penney, and Exxon Mobil. Then, for four years, Diane worked at BBDO in Chicago as Head of Production.

In 2007, Diane was named Executive Director of Integrated Production at DDB Chicago, which represented a return to an agency and client brands that she loved. In this role, she has expanded the agency’s production department across multiple platforms and she also sits on the agency’s management committee. Diane is still an active producer and in 2010 she was the Executive Producer for the groundbreaking reality show Bud House that represented Budweiser’s integrated sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. She was called upon to executive produce work for Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics and to produce two films for The Clinton Foundation’s ten-year anniversary celebration.

Diane has served twice on the AICP Curatorial Panel at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and has received the Institute Practitioner in Advertising (London) Distinction in Advertising.

A Brit by birth and in spirit, Diane graduated with honors from Brighton University with a BA in Library and Information Sciences, also majoring in Video and Film Production. She and her artist/musician husband, Michael, live in Chicago with their son, Spike, and daughter, Alfie.

Azher Ahmed
EVP, Director of Digital
For over 14 years, Azher has spearheaded digital efforts revolving around marketing, community build, branding and promotion across dozens of big brands including Comcast, Tyson, Abbott Labs and Mars. Azher originally started out as a Creative Designer, and brings a good mix of creative thinking and usability to traditionally cut-and-dry technical approaches.

He has led development of award-winning mobile, web, experiential and social platforms for numerous top-tier clients. His experience also includes pioneering real-time web marketing optimization platforms for DeVry and Discover Card as well as e-commerce platforms for clients including Dell, Wells Fargo and AOL.

Azher is an online community enthusiast, and possesses deep knowledge and experience in building social applications such as blogs, discussion forums, wikis and online collaboration engines—applications that play a key role in online & guerilla marketing.

Valerie Bengoa
Chief Operations Officer
Valerie Bengoa is a strategically oriented finance and operations professional who has been part of the DDB team since 1998. During her career she occupied financial roles at Tribal DDB, Downtown Partners, Matrix and DDB Seattle. In March of 2008 she relocated from DDB’s Seattle office back to her hometown of Chicago – the city where it all began - to occupy the role of SVP, Chief Financial Officer at DDB’s flagship office. She's now added the position of Chief Operations Officer to her role at DDB Chicago.

Prior to her homecoming, Valerie acted as the primary architect in restructuring operations and process for DDB’s Seattle office. A member of the four person Executive Team, she was personally responsible for overseeing finance, human resources, information technology and office services. During her time in Seattle, the institution of new process resulted in efficiencies and increased profit margins. Additionally, she co-authored several original automated agency systems that streamlined workflow. Several of these programs are now being rolled out to the other DDB offices in the U.S.

Jamie McGarry
SVP, Director of Business Development
Jamie is a business development professional leading the charge for new business at DDB Chicago. Previously Jamie was Director of Business Development at O'Keefe Reinhard & Paul, a creative start-up agency in Chicago, where she was responsible for building the agency’s roster by winning and onboarding clients including Big Lots, Orbitz and Turtle Wax. Prior to her role at OKRP, Jamie spent more than 10 years at FCB Chicago, where she moved up the ranks in business development and successfully led teams to win and retain some of the agency's most substantial clients.

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Clients and Brands

Client & Brands	Start Date
La Quinta Inns & Suites	N/A
Conagra	N/A
Kohler	N/A
Mars/Wrigley	N/A
McDonald's	N/A
Fiat Chrysler	N/A
Capital One	N/A
State Farm	N/A
MillerCoors	N/A
Emerson	N/A

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Billings & Revenue

Billing / Revenue Ranges	Number of Clients
Billing < $1M and/or Agency Revenue < $200K	1
Billing > $1M and < $3M	1
Billing > $3M and < $5M	2
Billing > $5M and < $10M	3
Billing < $10M and < $25M	2
Billing < $25M and < $50M	2
Billing > $25M	1

Total Gross Media Placed by this Office

Allocation Percent of Media Placed by this Office
Local Broadcast: 9%
National Broadcast: 50%
Digital: 16%
Print: 14%
Out of Home: 8%
Other: 3%

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Types of Services

Service Offering	Revenue
Advertising - General Market/ Traditional	55
Business-to-Business	14
Brand Consulting	10
Digital/Interactive | Website Development, Hosting, Monitoring	8
Direct Marketing	5
Health Care	5
Sales Promotion	1
New Product Development	1
Recruitment Advertising	1
Corporate Communications	0

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Industry Experience

Industrial, Manufacturing & chemicals
Home Products | home furnishings
Technology | computer hardware & software
Recreation & Sports | sporting goods
Recreation & Sports | toys & games
Travel | airlines
Luxury & Imported products
Non-profit, associations & public services
Apparel & Fashion | apparel
Apparel & Fashion | jewelry & accessories
Agriculture
Healthcare | medical products
Technology | consumer electronics
Apparel & Fashion | footwear
Recreation & Sports | hobbies
Retail
Travel | automobile rental
Travel | tourism
Technology | communications
Travel | hotels & resorts
Household Supplies
Financial services | insurance
Restaurants
Home Products | housewares
Telecommunications
Business Services & office products
Government | political
Professional Services (accountants, consultants, lawyers)
Education
Financial services | Banking - Consumer
Entertainment & Culture | motion pictures
Healthcare | pharmaceutical
Automotive | vehicles
Food & Beverage | soft drinks
Financial services | investments
Consumer Services
Food & Beverage | alcoholic beverages
Food & Beverage | pet food
Healthcare | direct to consumer (DTC)
Food & Beverage | food
Government | military & defense
Home Products | Home Improvements (hardware, paint, plumbing, gardening)
Gambling | lotteries
Entertainment & Culture | amusement parks
Gasoline/Petroleum
Appliances
Technology | .com business
Automotive | aftermarket
Financial services | credit cards
Cosmetics, perfumes & toiletries

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