DDB Chicago Taps Creative Veteran John Maxham As Chief Creative Officer

CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- DDB Worldwide, part of Omnicom Group (OMC; NYSE), today announced the appointment of John Maxham to the post of Chief Creative Officer of DDB Chicago, effective immediately. Maxham will oversee the creative product of the agency and  its staff of over 100, working closely with DDB Chicago Chief Executive Officer Paul Gunning, for clients such as McDonald's, State Farm, Mars Inc., Capital One, Safeway, Emerson and The Field Museum.

Gunning commented, "John's background and skill set make him uniquely equipped to deal with the biggest challenge in marketing today, which is identifying for our clients how to take advantage of the exponential opportunities that digital, social and mobile have made available to complement their traditional marketing communications mix.  I knew from the outset that we needed a creative leader with these skills and after searching long and hard, I am confident that our creative talent and our clients will get these benefits and more from John."

"DDB Chicago has an amazing culture and some of the most famous brands in America," said Maxham. "Given the massive changes that continue to occur in our industry, I knew I could be the creative leader to help Paul define the next era of excellence."

Maxham joins DDB Chicago from Cole & Weber United in Seattle, where he was a Managing Partner and Executive Creative Director. There, he helped the agency grow its national and global stature, creating integrated campaigns for clients such as the International Olympic Committee and Microsoft's Office Division. Maxham also led category-defining work for the Washington Lottery with the Department of Imagination campaign.

"Because I have already spent time with DDB, I know exactly what I'm getting into. Many agencies struggle just to do good work. DDB has a standard that's beyond good. It's a tradition of greatness," added Maxham. "I'm proud to be a part of that tradition and I'm excited to help the agency evolve in a way that guarantees that tradition continues well into the future."

Prior to joining Cole & Weber United, Maxham was SVP, Group Creative Director at DDB Chicago, where he led all creative work on AT&T.  Maxham's advertising story began in New York, where he worked as a copywriter at Lowe. There, he created famous work for UPS that repositioned it from a package delivery company to a business logistics leader. Maxham also created iconic work for Heineken's "It's all about the beer" campaign. During the time of that campaign, Heineken vaulted to the #1 imported beer position in America.

After moving to the West Coast, Maxham joined Team One advertising in Los Angeles and led the advertising launch of Boost Mobile in the U.S. Under Maxham's creative direction, and utilizing the memorable "Where you at?" campaign, Boost became the best selling youth mobile phone in the U.S.

Maxham's brand experience also includes The Ritz-Carlton, Dell, IBM, Verizon, Jaguar, Lexus, Mont Blanc, Nissan, Del Monte, The Four Seasons, Dewar's and Bacardi.

About DDB
DDB Worldwide (www.ddb.com) is one of the world's largest and most awarded advertising and marketing networks. In 2012 DDB was named Advertising Network of the Year by Campaign, as well as Agency of the Year and Digital Agency of the Year by Strategy magazine. At the prestigious 2013 Cannes International Festival of Creativity, DDB won 93 Lions, the most ever for the network. In addition, The Gunn Report has listed DDB as one of the Top 3 Global Networks for the last 12 years. The agency's clients include Volkswagen, McDonald's, Unilever, Mars, Johnson & Johnson, and Exxon Mobil, among others.

Founded in 1949, DDB is part of the Omnicom Group (NYSE) and consists of more than 200 offices in over 90 countries with its flagship office in New York, NY.

About Omnicom Group Inc.
Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE-OMC) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.

For further information on Omnicom and its brands, please visit www.omnicomgroup.com

Contact:
Mia Sissac
Director of Corporate Communications, DDB Chicago
Email: [email protected]
Office: 312-552-6439

Christie Giera
Director of Corporate Communications,  DDB North America
Email: [email protected]
Office: 212-415-2186

SOURCE DDB Worldwide