Award-winning creative leader leaves Leo Burnett WW to join DDB network
NEW YORK, Nov. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — DDB Worldwide announces today Chaka Sobhani will join as President, CCO International. Sobhani is leaving Leo Burnett Worldwide to join the DDB global network.
Sobhani will report to DDB Worldwide’s Global CEO Alex Lubar and work with Alex and DDB’s global leadership team to continue elevating the DDB Network and build on its legacy of creative excellence and effectiveness.
Sobhani was named Campaign’s Creative Leader 2022, and has featured in Campaign’s Top 10 Creative Leaders consistently for the past 5 years, as well as Adweek’s Creative 100. During her tenure, Leo Burnett London has been named Agency of the Year in 2022 and Leo Burnett Worldwide has received its most awards in 5 years, including being named Network of the Year at Clios, ADC, Dubai Lynx and Spikes. Multiple award winning campaigns include “Raise your Arches” and “Lights On” for McDonalds, “The Missing Chapter” for P&G, “One House” for Suncorp” and “Lost Class”.
Highly awarded in all the major award shows, Sobhani has also served as jury member and President numerous times at the world’s greatest awards shows including Cannes, D&AD, One Show, the Andy’s, Art Directors Club, Eurobest, Clios, LIA’s, the IPA, the Creative Circle and the British Arrows.
Said Alex Lubar, Global CEO, DDB Worldwide: “Chaka is a true leader. She’s leads by doing, inspiring and deeply understanding the people around her and the clients she works with. Her energy is infectious, her drive is relentless, and her dedication to delivering outstanding creative product for her clients is unquestionable. She is the type of leader that makes you want to be, make, and do everything better. We have an outstanding creative community at DDB, and the addition of Chaka will continue to raise the bar on our world-class creative product for clients. In short, today is a very good day for DDB Worldwide.”
Sobhani sits on the External Affairs Committee for the Design Museum, as well as on the board of D&AD, The One Show, the British Arrows, Creative Circle and Facebook EMEA Creative Council, Snapchat Global Creative Council and WARC Advisory Board.
Before joining Leo Burnett, Sobhani spent a number of years at the leading independent agency Mother, running key accounts and building their content capability. She has worked on an array of large global brands including McDonalds, Coca Cola, Google, Kelloggs, Samsung, Boots, Skoda, Disney, AXA, Morrisons, Tui, Premier Inn, Sky, P&G, General Motors, Stella Artois, National Lottery, Agent Provocateur and Adidas.
Sobhani also spent over a decade as an award winning film-maker and television creative executive. She set up ITV’s first in-house creative agency, during which time the network regained the #1 position in the UK, created its most successful global formats and content in shows like the X Factor and Downton Abbey, and won the prestigious Channel of the Year for the first time as well as numerous BAFTA’s, Golden Globes and the prestigious Rose D’Or.
Sobhani will be based out of DDB’s European headquarters in London and will partner closely with Rick Brim, Global CCO of adam&eve DDB.
ABOUT DDB WORLDWIDE
DDB Worldwide (www.ddb.com) is one of the world’s largest and most influential advertising and marketing networks which includes DDB branded agencies, along with adam&eveDDB (London, Berlin, New York), DM9 and Africa (both in Brazil), alma (Miami), Mango, Track and Rodgers Townsend. DDB has been awarded numerous accolades from the industry’s leading awards shows including 2023 Global Network of the Year by the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, D&AD Agency Network of the Year for three consecutive years 2023, 2022, 2021, and Effies US Agency of the Year in 2022 and 2023. WARC has listed DDB as one of the Top 3 Global Networks for 12 of the last 15 years. The network’s clients include MARS, McDonald’s, Molson Coors, Volkswagen, Reynolds Consumer Products, Peloton, JetBlue, Adidas, Lucozade, CALM, PlayStation, Marmite, Waitrose & Partners, and the U.S. Army, among others. Founded in 1949, DDB is part of Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) and consists of over 8,000 employees across 140 offices in over 60 countries, with its headquarters in New York, NY.
CONTACT
Donna Tobin, Global Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, DDB Worldwide
[email protected]
SOURCE DDB Worldwide
