This International Women’s Day, we wanted to make sure that advertising’s most well-known female creative was not Peggy Olson, but Phyllis Robinson - DDB’s highly influential copy chief and founding member of the agency.
How? By adding her name to DDB’s door. At equal footing with her well-known male peer, Bill.
On March 8th 2017, DDB became Doyle, Dane, Bernbach and Robinson.
But we didn’t just change one sign. We added Phyllis’ name to the DDB logo everywhere. Network-wide.
From Auckland, to Nairobi, Hamburg, Helsinki, Buenos Aires, New York, Toronto, Chicago and San Francisco.
Across every website, reception desk, social media account, and meeting room.
Employees wore t-shirts, took photos, posted to social media and celebrated Phyllis Robinson like the legend she is.
As well as increasing the awareness of Phyllis Robinson’s name, we let everyone know that she, and other female creatives, were behind some of DDBs most famous ads. Classics for Levy’s, Polaroid, and Ohrbach’s. Along with a Polaroid Television ad that was reworked to tell her story.
Industry people beyond even DDB itself learned that there was a woman behind some of their favorite work. Some of DDBs most often quoted lines.
These reworked ads lined the walls of DDB offices and were shared on social media.
Beyond just one day, the legacy of great female creatives made an impression on each one of DDBs thousands of employees. For every comment, like and share, there was a young female creative that took pride in celebrating the achievements of one of their predecessors.
In one day, we celebrated Phyllis Robinson as a true advertising great and inspired the next generation of female leaders advertising leaders.
Happy International Women’s Day 2017,
from DDB&R
Senior Copywriter: Rachel Jamieson
ACD Art Director: Michelle Sjoberg
Creative Director: Sam Brown
CCO: Kevin Drew Davis
North America CCO: Ari Weiss
DDB San Francisco, 2017
