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player ready...Two high-level DDB Chicago executives–Alan Pilkington and Dick Rogers–moved up to key posts in a management restructuring of the global ad agency parent.
Pilkington, 55, chairman of DDB Chicago, also becomes president of DDB North America and Latin America, total annual billing of $4.5 billion. He will remain here.
Rogers, 50, who had been president of DDB Chicago, was promoted to president of DDB’s U.S. operations, reporting to Pilkington. Rogers also will remain here, continuing as worldwide account director on client McDonald’s Corp. The post of DDB Chicago president will be filled later.
Pilkington reports to Ken Kaess, president of DDB Worldwide, which had 1999 consolidated billing of $15.3 billion, and revenues of $1.85 billion.
Kaess, 45, is heir apparent to Keith Reinhard, 65, chief executive officer of DDB, a unit of publicly held Omnicom Group. Reinhard and Kaess are in New York.
Expanded responsibilities for Pilkington and Rogers are viewed as recognition of their roles and the performance of the Chicago office, which has doubled its annual billing to $1.2 billion since Pilkington became chairman in 1995.
DDB Chicago, whose clients include Anheuser-Busch and General Mills, is projecting billing of $1.3 billion this year.
Arguably, DDB Chicago could lay claim to being the best creative shop in Chicago among the bigger agencies, and certainly among the best two or three, including Leo Burnett Co.
The appointments follow the promotion of Bob Scarpelli, vice chairman and chief creative officer of DDB Chicago, to the additional post of U.S. chief creative officer. He remains based here.
Pilkington, who in 1985 joined Doyle Dane Bernbach in New York, one of the predecessor agencies of DDB, will head up 12 offices in the U.S., along with eight in Canada and 26 in Latin America.
Pilkington and Rogers, in their new posts, will be on the road a bit as they become involved with other offices.
Other changes announced Thursday include Keith Bremer, 45, being named chief operating officer, a new post that includes responsibility for financial operations and acquisitions. Based in New York, Bremer reports to Kaess.
There is a duplication of at least one title in this management revamp. John Bradstock, 65, based in Manhattan, has held the post of president of DDB North America and the Pacific. DDB emphasized Bradstock will continue in that post, but didn’t say for how long.
Sears taps MindShare: Sears, Roebuck and Co. picked WPP Group’s MindShare USA’s offices in New York and Chicago as its primary broadcast media-management firm for the mass market. MindShare picks up spot TV and spot radio, cable TV, TV syndication and infomercials from Focus Media, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based firm that, with its Hoffman Estates office, was terminated by Sears. WPP Group’s Ogilvy & Mather unit previously had national broadcast buying for Sears. Sears also named Y&R Inc.’s Bravo Group as its Hispanic agency of record for all media-buying. Bravo adds Hispanic broadcast formerly with Focus to what it already had from the client. Y&R’s Media Edge has Sears’ print-buying responsibility. The retailer, whose total media-buying account is said to be $1.3 billion annually, has recently been reviewing its media resources. Starcom Worldwide, a sister unit of Leo Burnett Co., sought to unseat Sears’ existing media units in the competition.
Farmland National Beef Packing, a Kansas City, Mo.-based processor and marketer of commodity and branded beef products, picked Y&R Chicago for business-to-business and consumer advertising, a $10 million-plus account. Y&R competed against Bernstein-Rein, a Kansas City agency, which has other assignments from the client.
Strictly Personal: Birthday greetings Friday to John McNamara, 30 (Ruth’s Chris); Ruth Edelman, 71; software developer Mike Roman, 30; Kristin L. Nilsson, 31; banker Michael S. Kennedy, 46; Norman R. Bates, 38 (Jordan Industries); Marv Pollack, 47 (Oce-USA); and publicist Bess Winakor, 58. On Saturday to Duane “D.C.” Crenshaw, 32; Frank “Bud” Sloup, 65; ad execs William H. McCann, 50, and Tom Burrell, 61; Jacqueline Moynihan, 37 (Legal Assistants Inc.); Mark Strelzin, 34; Eleanor B. Smedley, 68; and Eileen Harakal, 54 (Art Institute of Chicago). On Sunday to John Rutledge 37 (Oxford Capital Partners); Jeff Himmel, 51 (Bravo Restraurants); Robin B. Dyner, 32; and Jennifer Tann, 29, and John Bojchuk, 39 (both Midwest Orthopaedics).