DDB Chicago Names Two Executive Creative Directors

DDB Chicago restructures creative department as Bill Cimino and Mark Gross are promoted to ECDs reporting to Ewan Paterson

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DDB Worldwide

Feb 01, 2011, 11:56 ET

CHICAGO, Feb. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- DDB Chicago today announced the appointment of Bill Cimino and Mark Gross as Executive Creative Directors reporting to Chief Creative Officer Ewan Paterson.

"Mark and Bill stand for everything that is great about DDB Chicago; namely, a belief in – and ability to produce – fantastic and talked about work," Paterson said. "Their promotion will allow them to have greater influence over the agency's work and its future. We will work as a triumvirate on everything from recruiting new digital talent to new business and, of course, the work itself."

Bill joined DDB Chicago as a copywriter in 1993. Among his many accomplishments at DDB, he served as the creative director responsible for award-winning work for clients Anheuser-Busch InBev, McDonald's, State Farm and Frito-Lay. Bill has won numerous awards, including a Cannes Grand Prix in 2005, and in 2006 he was promoted to Group Creative Director on the McDonald's account. In recent years, he has been widely celebrated for his efforts on behalf of McDonald's and Bud Light.

"I'm really looking forward to the challenges ahead as an ECD," said Cimino. "I am especially excited to work alongside Ewan and my long-time creative partner Mark. Our goal is to return DDB Chicago to its rightful place as one of the most creative and inventive agencies in the industry, and we should have a lot of fun doing it."

Mark Gross joined DDB Chicago in 1994 as an Art Director and worked his way up to Group Creative Director, overseeing Bud Light, Bud Light Lime and Cars.com. He is responsible for some of America's best-known and most beloved ads of the last two decades, most notably the Bud Light "Always Worth It" campaign and the Bud Light "Real Men of Genius" campaign, now known for being the most-awarded radio campaign in advertising history. Mark was chosen to serve on the inaugural Radio Lion jury at Cannes in 2005 and was invited back in 2008 to serve as jury President, a distinct honor.

"DDB has been my home for more than 15 years, so essentially I've grown up here," added Gross. "Becoming ECD has long been a goal of mine and I'm looking forward to continuing to elevate our creative product. My immediate goal is to greatly strengthen DDB Chicago's digital presence. Bill and I will work incredibly hard to make the agency the most integrated, technologically advanced and forward-thinking shop in the industry."

These promotions represent the latest of Paterson's changes to the structure and composition of the DDB Chicago creative department since joining the agency last year. In October, Paterson brought onboard one of the U.K.'s top-ranked digital and integrated teams, Alex Braxton and Alistair Robertson. Over the past several months, Paterson also implemented a pool system that ensures clients are consistently receiving the freshest solutions the agency has to offer, by allowing a diversity of creative talent to work on every client's business.

About DDB

DDB Worldwide Communications Group Inc (www.ddb.com) ranks among the top five consolidated advertising and marketing services global networks, according to Advertising Age. Consistently one of the most awarded networks globally for creative excellence, DDB was Campaign's 2009 Global Network of the Year, the 2010 Spikes Asia Network of the Year, and captured both the Cyber Grand Prix and Film Craft Grand Prix at the 2010 International Advertising Festival in Cannes. With more than 200 offices in over 90 countries, the DDB Group helps grow the value and influence of leading brands around the world. We believe that creativity is the most powerful force in business, allowing us to develop the ideas that people want to play with, participate in and pass along. We call this Social Creativity. DDB Worldwide is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC).

SOURCE DDB Worldwide