Procter & Gamble's Marc Pritchard Elected as Chairman of the Ad Council

NEW YORK, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ad Council announced today that Marc Pritchard, Global Brand Building Officer of Procter & Gamble (P&G), has been elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ad Council.

Mr. Pritchard joined the Ad Council Board in 2009, most recently serving as Vice Chair. During his tenure he has served on the Executive Committee, Nominating Committee and Compensation Committee. As Chairman, Pritchard succeeds Andrew Robertson, President & CEO of BBDO Worldwide, and will serve in this position for one year.

"Marc has been an integral part of our Board during the past three years and we are thrilled to have him as our new Chair," said Peggy Conlon, President & CEO of The Advertising Council. "His unparalleled expertise marketing and branding some of our nation's biggest and best brands will help us find new ways to reach and impact the target audiences for our campaigns."

P&G is the world's largest advertiser with a global portfolio of brands representing $82.6 billion in sales. Mr. Pritchard, a 30-year veteran of P&G, has been responsible for the company's Brand Building since 2009. P&G has been consistently named as the "Most Admired" company in the industry by Fortune and amongst the "World's Most Respected Companies" by Barron's. Additionally, the company has ranked as one of "The World's Most Innovative Companies" by Bloomberg Businessweek and amongst the "100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World" by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

The Ad Council has an ongoing tradition of rotating Board Chairs between the organization's founding sectors which include media companies, advertising agencies, and corporate advertisers. Mr. Pritchard will be succeeded by Ad Council Vice Chair Debra L. Lee, Chairman & CEO of BET Networks, in 2013.  

In addition, the Ad Council also elected 19 new members to its Board of Directors to serve a three-year term. Ms. Conlon added, "I'm excited to announce such outstanding new members to our Board. I look forward to leveraging each of their unique talents to further the Ad Council's mission to create awareness, foster understanding, and motivate action in the coming years."  The new directors are:

• Magid Abraham, President, CEO, Co-founder, comScore
• Tom Bernardin, Chairman & CEO, Leo Burnett Worldwide
• Sean Bratches, EVP, Sales & Marketing, ESPN
• William Eccleshare, CEO, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.
• Pamela El, VP, Marketing, State Farm
• Erica Farber, President & CEO, Radio Advertising Bureau
• Lauren Flaherty, CMO, Juniper Networks
• Margo Georgiadis, President, Americas, Google, Inc.
• David Kenny, CEO, The Weather Channel Companies
• Bob Lord, Executive Director, VivaKi Interactive Group; Global CEO, Razorfish
• Maureen McGuire, CMO, Bloomberg
• Jamie Moldafsky, CMO, Wells Fargo Bank
• Kris Sirchio, EVP & CMO, Brown-Forman
• Clive Sirkin, SMO, Kimberly-Clark Corporation
• Michael Sneed, VP, Global Corporate Affairs, Johnson & Johnson
• Mitch Spolan, SVP, National Accounts, Living Social
• Ben Stuart, US Advertising & Global Agency Relations, American Express
• Robert Tas, Managing Director, Digital Marketing, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• Charles W. Thurston, President, Comcast Spotlight, Comcast Corporation

The Ad Council
The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization with a rich history of marshalling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver critical messages to the American public. Having produced literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social issues of the day, the Ad Council has affected, and continues to affect, tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action and saving lives.

SOURCE The Ad Council