Bob Salutes Reinhard

DDB’s, Bob Scarpelli, has been started to send bi-weekly emails to the staff on various topics with the title, “Here’s A Thought From Bob Scarpelli.” This week’s email is below.

“Here’s a thought from Bob Scarpelli

Like many of you, I have been lucky enough to be able to work with one of my heroes, Keith Reinhard, our Chairman Emeritus. In my case, I’ve worked with Keith for over 30 years, beginning when I was a copywriter at what was then Needham Harper & Steers in Chicago. Keith was our Creative Director. How many nights did we sit outside his office clutching our storyboards, seeking his direction and hoping for his approval?
Keith is one of the giants of our industry. Over the years, he’s set an example that everyone inside or outside DDB can look up to. It’s nearly impossible to recount his accomplishments as “a working creative man” as he puts it, Creative Director, agency leader and industry leader.

Simply put, DDB would not be who we are without him. Neither would our industry. And next week, the advertising industry in the United States is recognizing Keith’s impact and influence by inducting him into the Advertising Hall of Fame. Who deserves it more? Keith’s dream was to revive the legacy of his hero, Bill Bernbach, and build a network of like-minded individuals who shared Bill’s beliefs and standards. Along the way, Keith helped create a little entity called Omnicom. Today, the bedrock of DDB Worldwide is still the culture and values Keith spread throughout our world. Those values are Creativity and Humanity. Those are Keith’s values. And I feel they are the reason why just over 13,000 of us believe in DDB.

As a person and as a leader, Keith has always had more intellectual curiosity, more energy and more passion for our business and our clients’ business than any other 20 people combined. There is no one else like him. I know you’ll want to join me in congratulating Keith on this extremely well-deserved honor. We should all be very proud. You can congratulate Keith at xxxxx@ddb.com.

(And just to make all of us jealous of what he’s done in his career, I’ve attached his “official” biography).
Thanks.

Bob Scarpelli
Chairman, Chief Creative Officer”

Bob’s got a point about Keith. The man is a legend. For heaven’s sake, he created The Hamburglar, as well as the slogan that made it into girl’s slapsies games nationwide: “You deserve a break today, so get up this morning and start your day with McDonald’s.” Sick. In 1984 Keith was named the first ever American president of the jury at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes, and in 1999 became the first person ever to serve as president of the Cannes jury twice. Concurrent with the creation of Omnicom, Keith accomplished the merger of Doyle Dane Bernbach and Needham Harper Worldwide, first known as DDB Needham Worldwide and now DDB Worldwide. Advertising Age has referred to Keith Reinhard as the advertising industry’s “soft-spoken visionary” and in 1999 named him one of the top 100 industry influentials in advertising history. In 2004 Keith founded the much needed Business for Diplomatic Action, Inc., a not-for-profit private sector effort to enlist the U.S. business community in actions aimed at improving the standing of America in the world. Keith is a past Chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies and remains a member of its Advisory Council.

There’s more, but you get the idea.