DDB North America CEO Justin Thomas-Copeland is leaving the agency
Thomas-Copeland, who became DDB North America CEO in 2020, is the latest leader to exit the agency.
FrankLin
DDB North America CEO Justin Thomas-Copeland is expected to step down from the role he assumed in 2020, Ad Age has learned.
“My vision was to accelerate the transformation of the North America DDB network into a future-forward integrated creative powerhouse. I am deciding to leave after delivering consecutive years of growth and receiving wide industry recognition for the efforts of the team,” Thomas-Copeland said in a statement shared with Ad Age. “We have built new capabilities, won new clients and our creativity continues to broaden. I am proud that our team has advanced DDB North America, which is set up to continue to do great things.”
The news follows other recent departures from DDB’s North America offices. In March, it was reported that DDB New York President Darla Price would be taking on a new role as president of Ogilvy New York. In October, DDB Chicago CEO Andrea Diquez was appointed the first global CEO of Gut. Sandra Alfaro was named DDB Chicago’s president shortly after. Both Price and Diquez were lauded hires made by Thomas-Copeland.
In September 2022, Alex Lubar was brought on as global president and global chief operating officer of DDB Worldwide.
Marty O'Halloran was promoted alongside Thomas-Copeland in 2020 to global CEO, a role he maintains. Both executives were brought on to help turn the agency around in the U.S. during a difficult time for DDB. Prior to Thomas-Copeland’s arrival, the agency had lost lead creative agency duties for Capital One, McDonald’s and State Farm.
“We would like to thank Justin for his time leading DDB North America,” O'Halloran said in a statement. “We are sad to see him go and wish him all the best and much success in the future.”
Thomas-Copeland in particular was seen as an executive who could infuse data thinking into a historically traditional agency. As part of that, the agency launched a new “Unexpected Works” brand positioning in 2021. Since then the agency picked up some new business in North America, including Reynolds Consumer Brands, Orkin, Kroger Health and Bimbo Bakeries.
However, DDB’s stature in the U.S. is still far from what it once was as one of the few standing legacy agencies left in the industry. Earlier this year Johnson & Johnson launched a U.S. creative review for Aveeno, and Neutrogena, both DDB clients. The agency also lost its business with Aflac and Persil ProClean in 2022.
DDB’s U.S. Army account has been a bright spot for the agency. A new campaign debuted in April, a month after Army ads starring Jonathan Majors were pulled.
Thomas-Copeland has held several executive roles within Omnicom. In 2019, he was named global CEO of Omnicom Precision Marketing Group. Prior to that, he served as the CEO of Rapp, New York. His resume also includes the titles of CEO and chief creative officer of Wunderman Moscow (before the WPP-owned shop merged with J. Walter Thompson to become Wunderman Thompson).
