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Clients: Kia
I was brought on board to lead Kia—the agency’s flagship account. D&G is magnificently scrappy. It lures great talent. You couldn’t ask for better or more passionate people. In an industry often typified by self interest and moral transience, David Angelo’s “Today I’m Brave” philanthropy is the real deal.
Clients: IBM, Ford and Comcast.
In my time at Ogilvy I wrote the most viewed IBM commercial in history and Ford’s “Unstuck” commercial that was ranked the #9 Super Bowl ad by USA Today. IBM was a brand I envied for decades. So I jumped at the chance to help lead it. You won’t find an agency of smarter, swifter minds. Steve Simpson is one of my favorite. Funny. Kind. And intensely cerebral.
Clients: HP, Verizon, JP Morgan Chase, Marriott, InBev, Reebok, Maserati
I took a chance on an agency I’d never heard of. To this day, I’m glad I did. I love building things. Whether it’s work. Or a group. Or an entire culture. I’m a builder at heart. And MB offered me an unprecedented opportunity to do all those things. MB was a collective more than a singular idea. To this day it attracts an impossible variety of creatives by design. John McGarry was the heart of the agency. An incandescent guy, he actually got his start in the “Mad Men” era. I’ve rarely seen creatives get as excited around good work as John did. He’d take your enthusiasm about an idea and whip it into a frenzy. He could read a piece of boiler-plate copy to a client with such passion, they’d be clutching their chest when he finished. We were Agency of The Year in 2009 (AdAge) and 2011 (Adweek and AdAge). It was a crazy, memorable, amazing ride.
Clients: AT&T, AARP
You will simply never meet nicer people in this industry. When I first interviewed there, people were so solicitous, I was constantly checking my wallet to make sure I wasn’t being pick-pocketed. (I had been living in NYC for years already). GSD&M had the highest level of consistent creative talent across the board. When I was there, Roy Spence was the spiritual center of the agency. I don’t think I’ve worked for anyone more charismatic. Roy could turn a fast phrase. My favorite quote of his? In a moment of frustration he was rumored to have said “I don’t want to be Goodby!!!! I Want to be—Great-by!!!” Turns out that story was completely apocryphal and he never actually said it. I wish he had.
Clients: Ikea, Snapple, Dominos Pizza, Bank One
Donny is a terrific businessman. And a big presence. His “leaner, meaner, faster, smarter” approach was game-changing. But he also commanded respect from clients. And never confused an elevated service offering with being a doormat for anyone. The place positively crackled with energy. And we were Agency of The Year (Adweek) in 2000 and again in 2003 (Adweek & Ad Age).
Clients: Microsoft, Guarana
I went to DM9 in the summer of ’98. It would be named Agency of The Year at Cannes about a month later. Then go on to do the very same the next year. The work ethic was extraordinary. And the output showed it. It was busier at 9 p.m. than during the day, typically. There, I was lucky enough to work for the inspiring Nizan Guanaes. Some ad legends are disappointing up close. Not Nizan. The window of his office looked out on to the creative floor. Writers sat on the inner row, so he could see them all from his desk. The art directors sat on the outside row. Nizan had a low, booming coffee-cup-rattling voice. He’s famous in Brazil. We traveled across the country. Everyone we met—shopkeepers, hotel employees, waiters in restaurants—they all knew him.
Clients: Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Aquafina, American Airlines, Tabasco, Midway Home Entertainment
A great place to cut your teeth. DDB had a massive outpost in Dallas fueled by it’s PepsiCo and Frito-Lay relationships. I worked for a number of interesting people. None more memorable than Jim “Ferg” Ferguson. Jim is a huge presence in a room. You know exactly where you stand with him on the work at all times. You had to earn your way into Jim’s esteem. He had a great gut instinct for what would surface at Cannes. He could be absolutely brutal about the work. But he inspired you to do your best, and then some.