DDB Worldwide

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DDB Worldwide is one of the leading^{[citation needed]} advertising agency networks in the world according to Campaign, Advertising Age and Businessweek. With 206 offices in 96 countries delivering creative business solutions across multidisciplinary platforms, the network is part of the Omnicom Group.

The DDB network serves a range of multinational clients, among them McDonald’s, Volkswagen, Royal Philips Electronics, Clorox, Anheuser-Busch, Johnson & Johnson, Henkel and ExxonMobil. DDB offers its clients a full set of skills, ranging from traditional advertising to direct marketing, sales promotion, strategic consulting and digital marketing, through such business units as Rapp Collins and Tribal DDB.

[edit] History

DDB was founded June 1, 1949, by Maxwell (Mac) Dane, James "Ned" Doyle, and William Bernbach as Doyle Dane Bernbach. Since DDB's founding in 1949, DDB's core values have been based on creativity and humanity.

The network is well known for its classic ads and work in the digital space.Believing that creativity is the most powerful force in business, DDB builds brands experiences that influence social communities and drive results.

Classic ads from DDB include the 1959 Volkswagen campaign, which in 1999 was voted the No. 1 campaign of all time in Advertising Age’s “The Century of Advertising.” In that same issue, the agency’s 1971 campaign for McDonald’s, “You Deserve a Break Today,” was ranked the No. 5 campaign of the century and the No. 1 jingle. More recent work that has been awarded include "Whassup" and "Real Men of Genius" for Anhesuer Busch, "shaveeverywhere.com" by Tribal DDB and DDB for Philips and "Monopoly Live" by DDB and Tribal DDB. DDB's "Call of Duty" work for the world's largest video game manufacturer Activision has also been widely awarded and recognised.

Bill Bernbach’s founding principle was that “Properly practiced creativity can make one ad do the work of ten.” This is one of many quotes from Mr. Bernbach that are contained in a Company handbook entitled "Bill Bernbach said....".

DDB's famous "Daisy" ad is considered a factor in Lyndon B. Johnson's defeat of Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election and landed Maxwell Dane on Nixon's Enemies List.

In 1986 DDB merged with Needham Harper Worldwide to form DDB Needham Worldwide, and in 1999 simplified its name to DDB Worldwide in recognition of its heritage and the global import of the DDB brand.

[edit] Industry recognition

In 1998, DDB was selected by Advertising Age as its first-ever Global Agency Network of the Year and repeated that award in 2004. Adweek trade magazine named DDB Worldwide its Global Agency of the Year in 2004 and 2005. DDB was recognized as the Most Awarded Agency Network in the World for 2004 by the Gunn Report and the most awarded agency network in the world according to Creativity magazine in 2006.

At the 52nd International Advertising Festival in Cannes, DDB Worldwide took home a total of 44 Lions, including two Grand Prix— the Cyber Grand Prix for online advertising created by DDB Brasil on behalf of its Henkel client, and the first ever Grand Prix in Radio that was awarded to DDB Chicago for the “Real Men of Genius” Bud Light campaign for client Anheuser-Busch.

In 2004, DDB offices won the most awards in the film, press and outdoor categories at the International Advertising Festival. DDB London won the Press & Poster Grand Prix for Volkswagen “Cops” while, for the third consecutive year, DDB took home more awards than any other network in the film category. In total, the network took home 34 awards, including the Grand Prix in print, and tied for the most awards won overall by an agency network.

In 2003, DDB was lauded for having won more Grand Prix awards during the competition’s 50-year history than any other agency.

Based on total awards won at the festival over the last 14 years, DDB has emerged as the most creative of the world’s multinational networks, winning 467 Cannes Lions between 1990 and 2007. In June 2001, Paradiset DDB became the only Swedish agency to win twice within a span of four years. This followed DDB Chicago’s June 2000 win of the Grand Prix in film and the Journalist Award for the infectious “Whassup?!” campaign for Anheuser-Busch. In 1999 at Cannes, DM9DDB, São Paulo, was named “Agency of the Year” for the second consecutive year, and in a special festival event, the 1963 Volkswagen spot “Snowplow” was named “Best Commercial of the Century.”

At the 44th Annual Clio Awards in 2004, DDB was named the Agency Network of the Year for 2003. This marked the fourth consecutive year the network was honored with this award and the fifth time in the award’s six-year history. DDB won the award for the first time in 1999. In 2004 for the second year in a row, DDB Chicago’s “Real Men of Genius” campaign for Anheuser-Busch won the Grand Clio in Radio. The campaign also won the first ever Grand Prix in radio at Cannes.

The agency network’s creative excellence was also recognized at the 2005 One Show Awards where DDB offices took home two Gold, three Silver, and three Bronze awards. In 2005 and 2006, The Gunn Report also acknowledged DDB Europe as the premier network in the region. Also in 2006 DDB London was named the Most Awarded Agency in the World by the Gunn Report. And in 2007, DDB ranked second at Cannes in terms of overall awards.

Tribal DDB was named Interactive Agency of the Year by Adweek magazine in 2006 and in 2008 Tribal DDB became the first ever digital agency to be named Global Network of the Year by Advertising Age.

DDB runs a global training organization called Catalyst that emphasizes the development of talent throughout the organization. Catalyst is one of the few such training organizations of its kind in the industry.