Mark O'Brien Named President of DDB North America

NEW YORK, Dec. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- DDB Worldwide announced today that Mark O'Brien, currently DDB North America's Chief Operating Officer, has been named President of DDB North America, effective immediately.  Dick Rogers, who previously held the title, will take on the role of Chairman of DDB North America.

"Mark has played an integral role in many of DDB's most important initiatives enabling the agency to evolve ahead of its time," said President & CEO of DDB Worldwide Chuck Brymer.  "He is a great talent and exactly the type of forward-thinking person to continue our North American development."

O'Brien first joined DDB in 1994.  He was instrumental in establishing the DDB interactive business unit as a new profit center during the industry's infancy in 1995, effectively founding one of the first digital agencies and what would later become Tribal DDB.  After joining DDB's corporate staff in 1998, in addition to spearheading the network's acquisitions and negotiations with major clients, O'Brien laid out the blueprint for formally establishing Tribal DDB, which, revolutionary at the time, remains ten years later one of the most awarded and influential digital agencies.  In 2001 O'Brien became CFO of DDB North America and Asia Pacific, where he helped to quickly develop and establish DDB as a major player in the Asia Pacific region.

"DDB has long been one of the most creative and effective agencies in the world," said O'Brien. "I look forward to working even closer with our people and clients to continue the development of breakthrough creative ideas that deliver results."

"In just the past six months, Mark has in many ways been the driving force behind some of our most significant moves in North America," added Rogers.  "The recent hires of Ewan Paterson in Chicago and Matt Eastwood in New York were largely driven by Mark's clarity of vision and ambition.  He has been a true champion of change, an advocate for our model of Social Creativity, and the perfect fit for this role."

"DDB has been immensely fortunate to call Dick Rogers its own for 35 years and I greatly look forward to continuing to benefit from his direction and council as he takes on the role of Chairman of North America," said President & CEO of DDB Worldwide Chuck Brymer. "He is an incredible leader and our agency would simply not have grown to where it is today were it not for him."

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