Chicago’s most famous ad agency is giving New York City a go.
According to Ad Age, the desire to open in New York has been driven in part by Burnett’s chief creative officer, Susan Credle, who spent 24 years at BBDO/New York.
“If the creative product we make defines us as an agency, then we have to have more than our fair share of the best talent in the business,” Credle says. “New York City has always been a magnet for creatively driven people. By extending our brand to NYC, we create more opportunity for talented people to work on iconic brands that extend across the globe.”
The office is located in Manhattan’s Flatiron district, and is helmed creatively by former Leo Burnett Sydney Executive Creative Director Jay Benjamin. It opens its doors with 15 full-time staffers who are working with consumer-packaged-goods giant Procter & Gamble on a global product launch, and the office is already pitching accounts in other categories.
Opening a new shop in the most competitive ad market in the world requires nerves of steel. Yet Benjamin says he’s not daunted: “The competition is fierce and we know that. At last check, there were close to 250 agencies that have over 100 employees in New York. But we’re not coming into this market as an unknown.”
