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).
