Bob Scarpelli Named Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of DDB Worldwide

NEW YORK, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- DDB Worldwide President and CEO Ken Kaess announced today that Bob Scarpelli is being promoted to Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, a new position at the agency network. Scarpelli assumes responsibility for DDB's creative effort around the globe, reporting to Kaess.

In making the announcement, Kaess said, "For 28 years, Bob has given DDB and its clients some of the most enduring and talked-about advertising in the industry, advertising that has become part of the popular culture. A tremendous creative talent and terrific leader, Bob has inspired our people as U.S. Chief Creative Officer and Chairman of DDB Chicago, all while chairing our worldwide Pinnacle Awards and Worldwide Creative Directors Conferences for the past several years. He is more than ready to take on this new and expanded role as my creative partner."

DDB Chairman Keith Reinhard added, "Bob is unique. He's a caring human being who is at once a true creative force and an inspiring leader."

Scarpelli will retain his title of Chairman of DDB Chicago. There are no plans at this time to name a successor to the U.S. Chief Creative post, Kaess said.

"I believe we have the best people in the industry," Scarpelli said. "So it is a tremendous honor for me to be asked to lead our creative team around the world in making our work ever more effective for our clients, ever more engaging for our clients' consumers and to do both across a broader spectrum of media platforms."

As U.S. Chief Creative Officer and Chief Creative Officer of DDB Chicago, Scarpelli has led the creative teams responsible for some of DDB's most awarded and best known campaigns, creating Talk Value(TM) for clients such as Anheuser-Busch, Dell and McDonald's.

His work and that of his creative teams have been lauded widely with awards from, among others: the ADDYs; One Show; ANDYs: the Radio Mercury Awards; Chicago International Film Festival, Communication Arts; the International Festival of New York; the New York Art Director's Club; the International Advertising Festival at Cannes; the EFFIE awards; and the Clios. For the last six years, commercials created for the Super Bowl by DDB U.S. offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York also have dominated prestigious consumer polls, including USA Today's Super Bowl Ad Meter, America Online (AOL), BusinessWeek and TiVo.

Scarpelli has also chaired some of the industry's most prestigious award shows including the 2003 Clio Awards, the 2001 Radio Mercury Awards and the 2000 International ANDY Awards. In addition, he was a member of Adweek's 1995 National Creative All-Star Team, and a jury member at the International Advertising Festival at Cannes, the EFFIE awards and the London International Advertising Awards.

He began his career at Needham Harper in 1977 as a copywriter and was promoted to Creative Director in 1980. Following that agency's merger with DDB in 1986, he was elevated in 1987 to Group Creative Director and in 1990 to Executive Creative Director of DDB Chicago. In 1994, he was named Chief Creative Officer of DDB Chicago and in February 1995 he added the title of Vice Chairman, DDB Chicago. In 2000, he was promoted to U.S. Chief Creative Officer and a year later added the title of Chairman, DDB Chicago.

Scarpelli currently serves on the executive committees of both the Chicago Creative Club and Governing Board of the Chicago International Film Festival; he also sits on the boards of The Off the Street Club and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

In recognition of his contribution to the advertising industry, furthering the industry's standards while promoting creative excellence and social responsibility, he was honored with the American Advertising Federation (AAF) Silver Medal Award by the Chicago Advertising Federation last year.

DDB Worldwide (http://www.ddb.com/), Adweek's Global Agency Network of the Year for the second year in a row, is one of the leading advertising agency networks in the world with 206 offices in 96 countries. Acknowledged as the industry's most creative multinational network, DDB was named the Most Awarded Agency Network in the World for 2004 by the Gunn Report. The network has won more Grand Prix Awards in the 51-year history of the International Advertising Festival in Cannes than any other agency, and over the last 16 years, has won more awards in Cannes than any other agency network. In 2004, for the fourth year in a row, DDB was named Network Agency of the Year at the Clio Awards and was also named Advertising Age's Global Agency Network of the Year.

DDB Worldwide is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. (http://www.omnicomgroup.com/). Omnicom is a leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.