DDB Chicago’s Diane Jackson’s new title of Chief Production Officer is confirmation of management’s high regard for her being “formative in strategizing for the entire network,” as president/CEO Paul Gunning put it.
He refers to her partnership with production leads that span across Omnicom’s 200 offices in 96 countries, including New York and San Francisco.
“The new title is a long overdue recognition for the great job she’s been doing,” says Chief Creative Officer John Maxham to whom she reports. “She heads production the way that an agency chief handles their specific area of expertise.”
As EVP/director of integrated production, a title she continues to hold, Jackson runs a department of 50, which includes the agency’s production division, The Studio.
She also is called to consult with Omnicom’s London-headquartered Gutenberg Networks, which globally provides integrated production services.
Maxham also praised Jackson for being a critical component in helping to attract a flow of new business to the agency that includes just acquired Alfa Romeo account and earlier American Cancer Society.
A Brit by birth, Jackson started her producing career at London agencies but worked for production companies when she came to Chicago.
“She was one of the best line producers I ever worked with and our directors would fight to get her to produce their jobs,” says STORY EP Mark Androw of her early employment.
“I think her background as a line producer is probably one of the many reasons she is so good at her job managing productions on the agency side. She has a very comprehensive understanding of the whole industry.”
Tim McGuire, whose Cutters Studios has had a decades-long relationship with DDB, is another Jackson fan. “Diane has been outstanding since Day One,” he says. “She is so knowledgeable and interested in the growth of media and how the agency should be aligning itself to it. She never looks at anything in an obvious way and always takes a creative approach to her personnel and the agency business as a whole.”
