Goodby Silverstein & Partners celebrated International Women’s Day by gushing over performative promotional work produced for its client, Argent, featuring a film written by Jeff Goodby.
Okay, just to clarify, International Women’s Day was saluted by a White man who waited over three decades to grant a White woman partnership at his White advertising agency.
Feels like perfectly patronizing performative PR.
Advertising Age published a perspective opining brands need a better DEIBA+ playbook.
The viewpoint presumes brands even have a playbook.
Based on reality, most brands (like White advertising agencies) have a cookie-cutter collection of performative PR, patronizing pranks, and box-checking heat shields. And the execution is delegated to Chief Diversity Officers, ERGs, and/or resident representatives of the underrepresented—all of whom lack legitimate authority and power.
BTW, it doesn’t help that most brands (like White advertising agencies) are really working with an anti-DEIBA+ playbook—aka systemic racism.
6 Ways Brands Can Stay True To Inclusive Values And Rebuild Trust
Recent backlash is a warning sign—brands need a better DEI playbook
By Rana Reeves
As the current administration chips away at foundational policies and rights, brands aren’t sure whether to flee or freeze—the only options available at the moment since nobody appears to be fighting for DEI. The result for almost all brands has been either silence or damaging statements that go against previously stated values.
Long before the election, CMOs were asking whether brands should celebrate Pride, acknowledge Black History Month or invest in employee resource groups. Every move feels risky amid backlash from both sides.
But rather than retreat, brands need to rethink their approach. The solution isn’t abandoning equitable practices—it’s evolving the actions into something more inclusive, acknowledging that America is a broad tent of viewpoints, and finding ways to work across polarization.
The risks of missteps are clear. In January, Target scaled back racial hiring targets and its Racial Equity Action and Change initiatives while pulling back on Pride merchandise after conservative backlash. This led to planned boycotts from liberals and a sharp drop in February earnings, alongside calls for a 40-day boycott during Lent from prominent Black churches.
All this happens amid broader economic concerns: produce shortages, tariffs and inflation. While brands have little control over these factors, one crucial lever they can pull is brand affinity. When prices rise, strong brand identity and consumer loyalty make the difference between maintaining sales or losing customers to cheaper alternatives. It just so happens that DEI has been, and will continue to be, a driver of brand affinity.
The old playbook isn’t workable, but brands can move to a model that continues to platform and center specific audiences while embracing a broader consumer base:
Focus on the future
Companies can argue they embrace inclusivity because it’s the right thing to do, but the more compelling case to leadership is that it drives long-term growth. America is becoming more diverse across every demographic. A recent Gallup survey found that more than 20% of Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ+. Brands that overreact to backlash by completely abandoning DEI initiatives aren’t just making a political statement, they’re alienating a growing consumer base.
The path forward isn’t about picking sides, it’s about balance. Brands can be mindful of execution, such as placing LGBTQ+ campaigns in age-appropriate spaces, but pulling back entirely is a mistake. Unless a brand serves an exclusively conservative audience, erasing DEI efforts weakens its ability to connect with an evolving consumer landscape. That’s why brands such as Delta, Costco, and Apple stand their ground. They know inclusivity isn’t about avoiding controversy—it’s about long-term brand health.
Don’t backtrack—find a different way forward
As Target struggles while Costco sees a 15% increase in foot traffic—brands recognize a pattern. Target should be a cautionary tale. After George Floyd’s murder, it committed to diversifying supply chains and stocking products from underrepresented founders. Rolling back these efforts isn’t just a moral misstep—it’s a financial risk. Urban consumers view Target’s shift as a betrayal.
The pattern repeats: Conservative boycotts drive temporary stock dips, and progressive consumers react. Brands that abandon commitments out of fear alienate the very customers who drove their success. Instead of making reactionary decisions, brands need a measured, long-term strategy that balances authenticity with business sustainability.
Build around universal principles
This attack on DEI might actually push brands toward more inclusive thinking. Some backlash stems from a sense of exclusion, particularly among white, straight men. True inclusivity doesn’t prioritize one group over another—it creates a broader framework that welcomes everyone while understanding the barriers some face and addressing these.
It’s important to note that DEI is a broad term that includes women, the disabled community and veterans. Rather than following a rigid DEI calendar, brands should focus on universal themes that intersect across communities, such as Veterans Day, disability inclusion, gender equity in STEM and Giving Tuesday. Future brand engagement isn’t about checking boxes—it’s about fostering equity in ways that matter to diverse communities.
Take care of employees
Rolling back DEI efforts doesn’t just affect public perception—it impacts workplace morale, retention and culture. Employees want to work for brands that align with their values. When a brand’s actions contradict its long-established identity, it creates a disconnect that’s tough to repair.
One way to stay engaged is to give employees time and support to volunteer for causes they choose. A food company can focus on food insecurity through an intersectional lens, considering how hunger affects urban and rural communities differently. Encouraging employees to contribute to community-driven initiatives helps build a brand’s social impact while reinforcing company values.
Align your business and your products
Too often, DEI initiatives feel disconnected from product truths, making them appear forced or exclusionary. Brands can develop products addressing income, opportunity and safety. Poverty, the opioid crisis and public safety concerns don’t discriminate. A liquor company could create a product detecting drinks that have been spiked. A transportation company could innovate on physical accessibility features. These are real issues with real solutions that align with business objectives.
Some brands are already adapting. Toyota shifted from broad DEI initiatives to focusing on STEM education. While this makes sense for an automotive company, STEM can still be approached intersectionally—supporting mothers returning to work, veterans transitioning careers and teaching Hispanic girls to code.
Break out of the cold
Many brands are paralyzed, unsure how to proceed amid political backlash, economic pressures and legal uncertainty. But staying frozen isn’t a strategy. The key is to adapt, not retreat.
Brands shouldn’t lose their values but should learn how to communicate them in ways that resonate with a broader audience. Doing good doesn’t have to be framed as diversity—it just needs to be framed differently than before.
Adweek published content on private equity firms showing interest in Adland, foreseeing a “coming wave of PE buying and investing in creative agencies.”
Well, sure, the White holding companies are no longer interested in purchasing more White advertising agencies, as each conglomerate is overfilled with commoditized people, practices, and properties. So, it falls on other entities to provide financial support to sustain shops.
The piece is titled with a question: “Your Agency Just Sold To Private Equity. Now What?”
The Answer: Probably the same thing that would happen if your agency just sold to a holding company—there will be an initial phase to weed out redundancies and optimize profitability, followed by the departure of legacy leaders. That is, people will be released or relieved, and the business will be streamlined or strangled.
It’s a sharp kick to the privates.
Oh, and DEIBA+ will be prioritized far after redundancies, revenue, reductions, reengineering, rejuvenating racism, and rent.
Your Agency Just Sold To Private Equity. Now What?
As PE dealmaking in the agency world heats up, experts share what to expect after an acquisition.
By Alison Weissbrot & Brittaney Kiefer & Rebecca Stewart
Interpublic Group (IPG)’s sale last week of R/GA to private equity (PE) firm Truelink Capital signals a coming wave of PE buying and investing in creative agencies, industry leaders tell ADWEEK.
R/GA is not the only agency that has recently sold to PE: last year, Svoboda Capital Partners invested in creative agency Highdive; Keystone Capital invested in Barkley, which then merged with OKRP; and independent media agency Brainlabs nabbed funding from Falfurrias Capital Partners (FCP).
Other PE deals in the ad arena include FCP’s investment in digital shop Said Differently; Shamrock Capital’s (which also owns ADWEEK) stake in experiential consultancy DE-YAN; and Growth Capital Partners minority investment in U.K. social agency Coolr.
As private equity dealmaking in the ad industry heats up, ADWEEK spoke to experts about what agency leaders can expect under PE ownership.
PE buyers are getting more sophisticated
While PE firms have invested in agencies over the past 10 to 15 years, their targets have mostly been performance marketing firms, said Michael Seidler, CEO of M&A advisory firm Madison Alley, pointing to deals like New Mountain Capital’s 2020 acquisition of Tinuiti from another PE firm, Mountaingate Capital.
“Following the Tinuiti [deal], so many groups saw the success of data-driven performance marketing groups and thought that they could replicate that,” he said.
In contrast, PE firms historically saw creative agencies as project-based and talent-driven businesses, and therefore less predictable, Seidler added.
But recently, there has been growing interest in creative and “tech-enabled” shops, said Lisa De Bonis, chief executive of Huge, a former IPG agency that sold to PE firm AEA Investors in December.
“I’m convinced this is the next wave,” De Bonis told ADWEEK. “As a natural consequence of the adoption of tech more broadly, and how quickly consumer behaviors and businesses are having to transform, private equity firms are seeing that tech-enabled creative services are an area of growth. They’ve woken up to it.”
When Brainlabs sold a minority stake to London PE firm Livingbridge in 2019, CEO Daniel Gilbert said M&A advisors set up meetings with holding companies and threw some PE outliers in the ring. He went in with some “negative preconceptions” of PEs as investors that “ruined businesses” by stripping down assets, sacking the CEO, and loading them with debt. But, he kept an open mind.
“We did meet some like that, and immediately said, ‘that’s not for us.’ But then we met this whole other bracket of PEs which was more growth-oriented and believed in our business,” he said.
Seidler said that PE sophistication in this space has increased, pointing to firms like Mountaingate Capital, New Mountain Capital, Shamrock Capital, and Insignia Capital Group as a new crop of agency buyers that have seized the opportunity–and learned more about how to successfully operate agencies along the way.
“It’s completely changed; there aren’t that many PE houses without some form of investment in marketing services or media or the advertising landscape,” Gilbert said.
Long-term growth on a short-time horizon
While PE firms figure out how to operate creative agencies, those agencies are getting used to the PE playbook.
PE firms typically give their acquired companies a three-to-seven-year timeline to increase their value before exiting. During that period, they’re given capital to make “strategic acquisitions to enhance the growth and enhance the multiple,” said Seidler.
“[PE firms] are in the business of growth, so there is capital. That didn’t happen in our previous situation,” said De Bonis. “There is a focus on performance and business excellence that is important and critical to our long-term growth.”
Gilbert said for Brainlabs, PE backing has resulted in a “growth-oriented” structure that has allowed the agency to complete 10 acquisitions since 2019, including social agency Fanbytes and digital shop Sparro. By 2023, the agency had grown eightfold, with client billings over $1 billion, while headcount increased from 250 to 850.
When the time came to sell again, U.S.-based FCP purchased a 55% stake.
While Gilbert said he considered selling to a holding company, he didn’t want the “pressure” of quarterly earnings to force decisions in the interests of investors rather than clients.
“A holding company is full of traditional agencies, so you’re in this conservative model, and [bound by] the constraints that wash across a full holding company and all the compliance issues of being public,” Seidler agreed. “[PE-backed agencies] have capital behind them, and they can look for acquisitions, and they can grow in other ways versus grinding it out to organically grow.”
A more focused offering
PE owners eliminate the pressure facing holding companies to sell fully integrated offerings across historically siloed assets, Seidler said, leaving agencies to get “the focus and the attention to prioritize their needs on a standalone basis.”
He pointed again to New Mountain Capital, which in addition to Tinuiti, holds a stake in healthcare marketing agency W2O and digital transformation company Bounteous. “They have three different businesses that are singularly focused and aligned to build the best performance marketing agency they can,” he said.
Under AEA Investors’ ownership, Huge has zeroed in on its core capabilities of digital product design and customer experience, De Bonis said. “It’s not about what else we can do or how we diversify. It’s about how we make this stronger, better, and more performative.”
For Brainlabs, FCP’s focus on long-term growth versus short-term payoffs has led to bigger upfront investments in talent, including graduate programs.
“If you were in a holding company structure, that sort of investment would look expensive without yielding something short-term to point to in terms of efficiency or production, and therefore difficult to justify,” said Gilbert. “But because PEs [usually plan to] sell, [FCP] knows we need a sustainable way of recruiting, training and producing talent.”
Preserving culture is key
For a PE ownership to be successful, agencies must find partners that understand the importance of preserving the cultures of these talent-led businesses.
“The thing that’s different is with agencies, they’re run by people,” Seidler said. “So preserving the culture matters, and even making acquisitions that are compatible with the culture matter a lot.”
Gilbert said that in the sale process, Brainlabs met many PE firms that asked questions that indicated they didn’t understand the sector.
“They were used to investing in businesses where you could point to the infrastructure. They did not like the concept that all the people could leave, and maybe all the clients could leave as well,” Gilbert said.
For agency staff, there’s the bonus of a greater link between their performance and the growth of the business, according to De Bonis.
“For people at Huge, there is now this focus on performance that directly links to their own growth that they didn’t have before. It’s a simple conversation: we grow, you grow,” she said. “We’re able to distribute the value creation, which means equity and performance-related compensation.”
For Gilbert, the structure Brainlabs currently operates under, where management owns 45% of the business, is working. “It’s a nice balance between good governance, as well as client, and future-centric behavior,” he said.
But depending on the nature of the deal, some founders might experience culture shock, particularly at independent agencies. These entrepreneurial leaders will have to adjust to board oversight and a level of rigor they didn’t have as sole proprietors.
“For many of these founders, they’ve been running the business by themselves and making decisions by themselves,” Seidler said. “You now have someone that you report to.”
Adweek reported H&M broke up with Buy From A Black Woman—and paid the price in the form of an $83K check to settle outstanding debts. Sounds like a Diary of a Mad Black Woman spinoff.
H&M Pays DEI Nonprofit $83K Debt After Abrupt End To Partnership
The partnership between the retailer and Buy From a Black Woman ended last week after a breach of contract
By Cydney Lee
H&M has finally paid non-profit Buy From A Black Woman (BFABW) the $83,000 it owed the organization nearly a month past its due date, ADWEEK has learned.
After the partnership between H&M and the nonprofit organization had recently ended due to what BFABW claimed was a breach of contract, founder Nikki Porcher received an overnighted check from the retailer on March 14 for $83,333.33, per a video obtained by ADWEEK.
The money was originally due by Feb. 17, according to Porcher and an email sent to H&M from BFABW’s legal team, for a holiday market event that occurred at the end of last year.
H&M confirmed to ADWEEK that “all sums owed to Buy From A Black Woman have been paid in full, and no sums remain outstanding.”
“H&M took immediate steps to rectify the situation,” the brand said in a statement.
A partnership gone sour
BFABW, which provides resources and guidance to Black women entrepreneurs, first partnered with H&M in 2021. Over the years, the two collaborated to produce events and activations in H&M stores nationwide.
Porcher said the first two years of the partnership were seamless. But in 2023, it transitioned from the sustainability team to the brand’s inclusivity and diversity team, and Porcher said she was left out of meetings and decisions about the partnership.
The big turning point, Porcher said, happened when an International Women’s Day (IWD) event scheduled for March 2 was canceled. She was under the impression that the IWD event would be replaced by a new denim fashion activation later that month, according to an email thread seen by ADWEEK.
Porcher argued in the email thread that the IWD event had been a key part of BFABW’s partnership with H&M, and was outlined in the contract.
H&M said in a statement: “H&M presented this event as an opportunity to further promote and amplify the partnership and we deny that this was a requirement, change of plans, or a breach of contract in any way.”
H&M said that BFABW stopped communicating with H&M, “including requests for an open dialogue to ensure we were supporting the organization in a way that continued to support their vision.”
Porcher sought legal counsel after learning about the change in plans around the IWD event, and found that H&M the retailer owed $83,000 by Feb. 17.
Porcher declined to sign a termination agreement drawn up by H&M, where she claims the brand offered her $100,000 to “quietly walk away” while continuing to use the BFABW name and programs.
The agreement, obtained by ADWEEK, states that Porcher would be prohibited from defaming H&M publicly and that the brand can only use BFABW’s name and logo in its 2024 Inclusion and Diversity Report.
H&M and BFABW both agreed to end the partnership on March 12.
From The New York Times…
George Foreman, Boxing Champion and Grilling Magnate, Dies at 76
He claimed a world title in his 20s and again in his 40s, and then made millions selling grills.
By Victor Mather
George Foreman, a heavyweight boxing champion who returned to the sport to regain his title at the improbable age of 45, and parlayed his fame and amiable personality into a multimillion-dollar grill business, died on Friday. He was 76.
His family announced his death on his Instagram account. The family statement did not give a cause or say where he died.
When Foreman returned to the ring after 10 years away, there was skepticism that a fighter of his years could beat any younger fighter, much less come back to the top of the game. But in 1994, he beat the undefeated Michael Moorer to reclaim the world title, shocking the boxing world.
Foreman’s career spanned generations: He fought Chuck Wepner in the 1960s, Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali in the ’70s, Dwight Muhammad Qawi in the ’80s and Evander Holyfield in the ’90s.
And his popularity helped him make millions selling grills after his retirement.
George Edward Foreman was born Jan. 10, 1949, in Marshall, Texas, to Nancy Ree (Nelson) Foreman and J.D. Foreman, a railroad construction worker. As an adult, he learned that his biological father was a man named Leroy Moorehead.
Foreman was candid about being a bully and a petty criminal in his youth. After dropping out of school, he joined the Job Corps at 16. At 17, he tried his hand at boxing.
Success came quickly in the amateur ranks; only a year and a half later he was Olympic heavyweight champion, defeating Ionas Chepulis of the Soviet Union by a second-round knockout in Mexico City in 1968.
After the fight, Foreman, who was Black, waved a small American flag in the ring, days after the track athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised clenched fists during the national anthem to protest the country’s treatment of Black people.
“I was just glad to be an American,” Foreman said afterward. “Some people have tried to make something of it, calling me an Uncle Tom, but I’m not. I just believe people should live together in peace.”
Turning professional, he started a heavy schedule of fights, boxing as many as a dozen times in a year. He was 37-0 when he got his first shot at a world heavyweight title against Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1973.
Though he was a 3-1 underdog, Foreman dominated the fight, knocking Frazier down six times before the contest was stopped halfway through the second round. One of those knockdowns led the television announcer Howard Cosell to utter one of boxing’s most famous calls: “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!”
“It was unbelievable,” the Times sports columnist Arthur Daley wrote. “In little more than four and a half minutes, George Foreman destroyed Joe Frazier tonight, and the man who supposedly couldn’t lose never had even one ghost of a chance for victory. So there is a new heavyweight champion of the world, and he won it with authority in an explosive demonstration of overpowering punching skills.”
Foreman defended the title twice, before a match with Ali in Zaire in 1974 that would become known as the Rumble in the Jungle. This time, Foreman was the favorite, but Ali reclaimed the title, dealing Foreman his first career loss.
Ali used his rope-a-dope strategy, resting on the top rope and allowing Foreman to punch him, but also tire himself out. Ali finished the fight with a left-right combination knockout in the eighth round.
Foreman had five more victories, including another one over Frazier, but after losing to Jimmy Young in 1977 he elected to hang up his gloves at age 28, citing his religious beliefs and his mother’s wishes.
He turned to religious vocation in his retirement years, as a nondenominational Christian minister in Houston and by starting a youth center.
But the ring lured him back. “I want to be champion again,” he said in 1987. “I’ve got a three-year plan. I want to start at the bottom. Train harder than any man in the world. Fight once a month.”
He admitted money was a factor as well. “You know that story about how you have four pockets in your pants, and you better save what’s in one pocket so you can live?” he said. “I saved one pocket. I’ve got money for steak and potatoes. But the other three pockets I just blew.”
Sure enough, Foreman fought frequently, as many as nine times in a year. He cranked out 24 straight wins, although most were against boxers of lesser ability. That set him up for a title shot at age 42 against the champion, Holyfield, in 1991. Foreman lost the decision but put forth a creditable performance.
The Times described Foreman as “fit and courageous.” But the general reaction was that his performance was little more than a brave effort. Surely, that seemed to be the end of Foreman’s title dreams.
He scored a few more wins and lost to Tommy Morrison, but then managed to land another title shot in 1994 against Moorer, 26, who had defeated Holyfield. Some called it undeserved and suggested that Foreman got the chance only because of his fame and the novelty of his age. “It’s not about deserving,” he said with a smile, “because I’ve got it.”
Foreman was trailing on the judges’ scorecards when he managed to land the big punch he was looking for and knocked Moorer out in the 10th round in Las Vegas. Moorer had thrown 641 punches, to 369 by Foreman. But the last one was the one that counted.
Foreman had stood rather than sit on a stool between rounds as if to defy his 45 years. He became the oldest heavyweight champion in history.
“Anything you desire, you can make happen,” he said after the fight. “It’s like the song, ‘When you wish upon a star your dreams come true.’ Well, look at me tonight.”
Foreman defended his belt against a German fighter, Axel Schulz. But the governing bodies that awarded the championship began to strip him of his belts as he declined to fight the challengers they mandated. Instead, Foreman faced and defeated a couple of lesser fighters. His final fight was a loss, a close decision to Shannon Briggs in 1997. He was 48.
He finished with a professional record of 76-5 and is widely regarded as one of the 10 best heavyweight fighters of all time; a Ring Magazine survey in 2017 ranked him seventh. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003.
Foreman returned to his youth center, did commentary for televised boxing broadcasts and, most lucratively, sold hamburger grills.
Foreman began endorsing the George Foreman Grill in 1994, with a big smile and predictable but still charming lines like “It’s a knockout.” The grills were electric and portable and could be used inside as an alternative to outdoor charcoal grilling. Foreman helped propel the grills to become an American kitchen mainstay.
In 1999, Salton Inc. paid $137.5 million for worldwide rights to use Foreman’s name on grills; Foreman got about 75 percent of the payout. He also endorsed mufflers, fried chicken and chips.
Foreman’s affability helped him transcend boxing and cross over into the media world. In 1993-94, in the midst of his comeback, he starred in “George,” a short-lived sitcom on ABC in which he played a retired boxer helping troubled youth, and he made guest appearances on several other shows over the years. He appeared in a Venus-flytrap costume on “The Masked Singer” show in 2022 (his performance of “Get Ready” by the Temptations was not enough to stave off elimination).
In 2005, Foreman collaborated with the author Fran Manushkin on a children’s book called “Let George Do It!” about a household full of Georges, like his own.
It reads: “‘Today is Big George’s birthday,’ Mom tells the assembled boys. ‘Can I count on all of you to help with the party?’
“‘You bet,’ said George, George, George and George. ‘Urgle,’ said Baby George.”
One key to Foreman’s business success in so many areas, he said, was making personal appearances.
“That’s bigger than anything, any endorsement, I don’t care who you are,” he said.
“They want to touch you; they want to know you.”
“Then,” he said, “they buy you.”
Hank Sanders contributed reporting.
Advertising Age reported the CEO of FCB Chicago is leaving to take another CEO role at a marketing services company. The shifting executive said her decision to depart was not inspired by the impending Omnicom acquisition of IPG.
Okay, but it’s great timing, as the Omnicom-IPG scenario could certainly result in lots of redundant White women.
FCB Chicago’s CEO Is Leaving
Kelly Graves is taking a job as CEO of marketing services company Eastport Holdings
By E.J. Schultz
FCB Chicago CEO Kelly Graves is leaving the Interpublic agency to become CEO of Eastport Holdings, a marketing services company whose holdings include agencies such as 9Rooftops, Mindstream Media Group, 500 Degrees, Blue Text and Marca.
After Graves departs in April, the Windy City office will be led by Jen Neumann, a longtime FCB employee who now carries the title of executive VP, group management director. Neumann, who is Chicago-based, will be promoted to president.
Graves was promoted from chief marketing officer to president of the agency in late 2019 after the departure of FCB Chicago president and CEO Michael Fassnacht. Graves added the CEO title in 2022.
“We are truly grateful for all of Kelly’s contributions during her 17-year tenure, and we wish her the very best in this next chapter,” FCB said in a statement, adding that Neumann “will work closely with the broader Chicago Leadership Team to build on our momentum and continue delivering the impactful work that defines FCB.”
FCB Chicago’s largest clients include Clorox Co., Cox Communications, Discover and Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
Memphis, Tennessee-based Eastport Holdings is backed by private equity firm SouthWorth Capital Management. Graves, who will remain in Chicago, is charged with focusing on agency growth, talent development and collaboration across the Eastport portfolio, according to a statement.
“Kelly’s experience delivering YOY growth for FCB’s largest operation, her passion for business development and her commitment to her clients and involvement in their business are exactly what we need to take Eastport to the next level,” Eastport Holdings Chairman Bubba Patton said in a statement.
Graves is leaving as Omnicom Group works to complete its $13 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group of Cos., announced in December. Graves said the merger is not the reason she is leaving.
“I love FCB,” she said in an interview. But “it was time for a new challenge and a new change. Let’s be honest, independents (agencies) are having a moment right now, so this is very appealing to me.”
Her FCB exit continues a wave of executive turnover inside Chicago offices of holding company-owned agencies. Some shops have consolidated more leadership in New York.
For instance, Omnicom’s BBDO in August hired former Wieden+Kennedy New York President Jiah Choi as CEO for both its New York and Chicago agencies, following the July departure of Jeff Adkins, who had led the Chicago office, known as Energy BBDO. Emma Montgomery, who had been at the helm of Omnicom-owned DDB Chicago since May 2023, left for New York late last year to become Droga5’s global chief strategy officer. The agency put its Chicago office leadership under Caroline Winterton, U.S. CEO of adam&eveDDB.
Also heading to New York last year was Britt Nolan, who left his position as president and chief creative officer of Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett Chicago to become chief creative officer for North America at IPG’s McCann Worldgroup. Renato Fernandez, named CCO of Publicis Creative US last summer, added the role of Leo Burnett Chicago CCO.
By naming Neumann as president of FCB Chicago, the agency signaled it remains committed to keeping a high-ranking executive in the city. “Chicago is the heart of FCB,” Graves said. “It is where we were founded and it has always been the location of our largest office. Our capabilities are built out here. The majority of our client roster resides here.”
Graves said she recommended Neumann as her successor. “This is a job that Jenn had her sights set on since she started working for me. And over the last six years, she demonstrated a ton of growth, creatively, strategically and from a business standpoint. She’s ready to take it on.”
As she moves to Eastport, Graves has plans to bolster the Chicago office of 9Rooftops, a creative shop that has worked for brands including Adidas, Whirlpool and wine marketer Tenfolds.
“We have our sights set on Chicago as a key market for talent and clients,” Graves said.
