14377: AMV BBDO Gets Whiter Without Snowball.

Campaign reported AMV BBDO Group Chairman Dame Cilla Snowball is rolling out of the White advertising agency. She’ll be replaced by a White man and White woman, which will technically increase racial exclusivity but not improve gender equality in the shop. Brilliant.

Cilla Snowball to leave AMV BBDO

Group chairman and group chief executive steps down after 26 years.

By Gurjit Degun

Dame Cilla Snowball is leaving Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO at the end of 2018 after 26 years. She will be succeeded by chief client officer Sarah Douglas as chief executive and managing director Justin Pahl as group chairman.

Snowball joined the agency in 1992 as its first new-business director and has served as managing director, chairman, group chairman and chief executive. During her time at the company, AMV has won numerous agency of the year accolades for effectiveness, creativity and marketing.

Over her 26-year tenure, Snowball has also been chairman of the Advertising Association and president of Wacl, The Marketing Group of Great Britain and The Thirty Club. She received a damehood in the Queen’s birthday honours in 2017, eight years after she picked up a CBE for services to the sector.

Andrew Robertson, president and chief executive of BBDO, said: “About a year ago, Cilla told me she was giving me 12 months’ notice of her intention to leave her position and pursue a portfolio-based career, working on the boards and government initiatives that she is frequently approached for.

“Since then, I have spent most of my time pretending the conversation never happened; and Cilla has spent hers tirelessly developing the agency’s business, reputation and leadership team. As always, though, Cilla meant what she said. And now, after 26 years, that time has come.”

Douglas and Pahl’s new roles are effective from 1 January 2019. They have been at AMV for 18 years and 10 years respectively.

Snowball said: “It’s very hard to leave a business I love and work that I enjoy. If you’ve worked as long as I have in a great job like mine, I think it’s best to go when people ask why, not when you are leaving.

“I’m beyond grateful for the opportunities and support I have been given at AMV BBDO, surrounded by the best work, people and clients. I’ve always loved doing portfolio work and I am excited about the next chapter.”

14129: Shopping For Divertsity.

More About Advertising published a piece on the perils of pitching, spotlighting how AMV BBDO won the Asda account, only to learn the next day of the Asda-Sainsbury merger, which will likely and dramatically impact the new client-agency relationship. Whatever. More outrageous is the celebratory agency photo depicted above, which clearly shows AMV BBDO Group Chairman-CEO Cilla Snowball is winning with divertsity. AMV BBDO is fully stocked with Whiteness and womanhood. Why, it’s a superstore of exclusivity.

13512: Snowballing Diverted Diversity.

At Campaign, Cilla Snowball explained “How adland can crack gender equality in 2017”—which essentially means that diverted diversity will extend throughout the year as more White women are promoted in White advertising agencies. Snowball’s lengthy perspective isn’t worth re-posting, so here’s the condensed version:

Eliminate the gender pay divide; Unconscious-bias training for everyone; Know your diversity stats and set targets; Get more female creatives; Encourage women to say what they want; Encourage women to say what they don’t want; Get men to lead on equality; Balance shortlists, balance everything; Theworktheworkthework, and; Sponsor promising female leaders.

Heaven forbid a culturally clueless idiot like Snowball might replace the gender-based terms with racial and ethnic references to address true diversity. But given the current and historical attention paid to actual inclusiveness, the title of such an exposition would have to read, “How adland can crack racial and ethnic equality by 3017.”

12681: Adland Good For White People.

Campaign published perspectives from Adam & Eve/DDB CEO James Murphy (the latest White person to become UK Advertising Association Chairman) and Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO Group Chairman and Group CEO Cilla Snowball (the White person/predecessor who served as UK Advertising Association Chairman). Murphy is determined to prove that adland is good for the economy, society and people. Murphy stressed, “…the AA is pushing us all to ask the difficult questions.” Plus, he gushed about AA predictions that over 70,000 new advertising jobs will be created in the next four years. Of course, Murphy is not about to ask the difficult question, “How many of the 70,000 new jobs will go to minorities?” In fact, diversity doesn’t even appear in his roughly 750-word rave. Meanwhile, Snowball mentioned diversity; yet based on her committed efforts to date, she’s really talking about increased opportunities for White women. Yes, adland is good for the economy. Proving that adland is good for society and people, however, will require concocting a campaign based on lies and deceptions—a perfect project for White advertising executives to handle.

12509: White Women Rule In UK.

Campaign reported Grey London promoted Lucy Jameson to Chief Executive, while Wunderman promoted Mel Edwards to Chief Executive EMEA—further confirming that White women are thriving in UK White advertising agencies. Such remarkable progress would never have happened without the tireless activism of revolutionaries like Cilla Snowball, Lindsey Clay and Nils Leonard. Bravo, White ladies and gentleman. Mission accomplished.