BBDO’s Andrew Robertson becomes chairman, Nancy Reyes elevated to worldwide CEO

Andrew Robertson, BBDO Worldwide’s president and CEO of two decades, will shift into the role of chairman, the agency announced. The shift, his first since 2004, is effective October 1.

Nancy Reyes, BBDO’s current CEO of the Americas, will succeed him as president and CEO of BBDO Worldwide.

During his two-decade leadership, Robertson has worked closely with the agency’s clients including AT&T, HP, Mars Inc and PepsiCo, and been a key contributor to new business wins such as The Home Depot, Enterprise Holdings and Heineken. Robertson was inducted into the AAF Hall of Fame in 2022.

Under his leadership, BBDO was named Cannes Lions’ Network of the Year seven times, as well as the festival’s first Network of the Decade. It has also been named the most effective network in the world five times by the Global Effies and the Best of the Best by WARC.

“We have been extremely lucky to have an industry titan at the helm of BBDO for over two decades,” said John Wren, chairman and CEO of BBDO parent company Omnicom, in a press release. “Andrew’s passion for the business was felt by his people and clients alike, always hands on to ensure the network maintained its industry leading standards of creativity.”

In the release, Robertson stated that his move to chairman is not a sign of plans to retire and that he will continue to “help Nancy in whatever ways I can, to coach our people and to work with our clients, something I have always loved doing.”

Wren added, “We are grateful [Robertson] will continue to guide the network in his new role as chairman and are excited for Nancy to take the reins as CEO as she propels BBDO into the future.”

Reyes joined BBDO in October 2023, departing from her position as CEO of TBWA\Chiat\Day. In the release, Robertson noted that Reyes’ effectiveness in the Americas CEO role made the decision to step down “very easy for me.”

“She has proven to be exactly what I expected — a decisive and fast-acting leader with a clear point of view on where we need to go as a network, resilience, a sense of humor and a relentless drive to bring great work to our clients that drives their businesses,” he said.

Of her elevation, Reyes said, “I am excited to have the opportunity to bring the beautiful community of BBDO together to design where we go from here. This is a fantastic agency with a very long runway ahead.”

This is the latest of a slew of leadership shifts at BBDO. In April, BBDO appointed Emily Portnoy chief strategy officer. Also in April, BBDO Worldwide chief creative officer David Lubars announced his plans to retire at the end of the year. And last week it poached Wieden+Kennedy president Jiah Choi to serve as CEO of the agency’s New York and Chicago offices.