DDB restructures North America agencies under new leadership unit

DDB has placed its North American agencies under a new leadership team, a move that aims to further integrate DDB Chicago, Alma and Adam&eveDDB and better handle marketers’ shifting priorities, executives say. Caroline Winterton, U.S. CEO of Adam&eveDDB, will now serve as DDB North America CEO, assuming a post that’s been vacant since Justin Thomas-Copeland stepped down in 2023. Winterton will oversee both Adam&eveDDB and DDB Chicago, which has been without a chief executive following Emma Montgomery’s move to Droga5 in October. A search is underway to hire a managing director in Chicago, who will work with Winterton and leaders at other regional offices, including New York and San Francisco (Adam&eveDDB) and Miami (Alma). Alma CEO Isaac Mizrahi has been appointed to the new role of DDB North America chief operating officer. He will retain his role at Alma, which has roots in Hispanic and multicultural marketing. (Alma is also set to announce a new managing director, according to a DDB spokesperson.) DDB North America has also hired Laura Cona to serve as chief growth and marketing officer, a new role. Cona formerly managed growth in North America for WPP’s VML. Chief Financial Officer Justin Gee and Chief People Officer Micheline Lewis, who already had North America-focused remits, will continue in their roles. DDB’s new leadership team will also be supported by some of the network’s global leaders, including Chaka Sobhani, president and chief creative officer, and Tomas Gonsorcik, chief strategy officer. Tracking the latest Omnicom-IPG merger news and analysis DDB’s revamp comes before Omnicom is expected to close its acquisition of Interpublic Group of Cos. in the second half of 2025. Alex Lubar, global CEO of DDB, declined to comment on the IPG deal and whether it played a role in DDB’s decision to restructure. “We’re focused on the work that we've got in front of us, and we're not distracted by anything that's happening with the acquisition,” Lubar said. More: Omnicom and IPG foresee modest revenue growth DDB North America has gone through some changes in recent years. In May 2023, the network merged DDB New York and Adam&eveNYC, creating Adam&eveDDB. The merger came after multiple executives departed, including Thomas-Copeland and DDB New York President Darla Price, who left to become president of Ogilvy New York. (DDB said at the time that Thomas-Copeland’s role, which didn’t include oversight of Alma, wouldn’t be filled). Now, the new leadership unit is designed to better reflect marketers’ shifting priorities, according to DDB executives, who said the network’s shops have recently started organically collaborating on North America clients such as Kroger, PepsiCo and Molson Coors. “More and more briefs coming our way are looking for an integrated model,” Cona said. Putting the agencies under one executive team also allows DDB to tout its integrated capabilities in the marketplace, including with pitch consultants, added Cona. Agency Review Tracker Stay up to date with the latest account reviews Click here “We’re looking at strategies at the agency level, but then at the market level as well, because, frankly, that's how our clients think about it,” said Lubar. “They think about the market as a whole.” Also: Behind Alma’s ‘ungeneral’ repositioning The move also brings Alma further into the fold as the U.S. becomes more diverse. In press materials shared with Ad Age, Mizrahi said 40% of the country’s population now identifies as multicultural, with projections estimating that figure to climb to over 50% by 2044. Becoming more integrated with other DDB agencies gives Alma’s talent a broader “creative runway,” according to Mizrahi. “That’s very important because our talent is actually ready and asking for opportunities that are bigger,” Mizrahi said. Ad Age Best Places to Work 2025 50 companies doing a standout job See the full list here

DDB restructures North America agencies under new leadership unit

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