Part of the EPR PR Firms Directory. See also: The Global PR Firms Atlas 2026 · EPR Communications Agencies & Firms (News Feed) · The Architects (Permanent Encyclopedia).
BBDO Worldwide is one of the world's largest and most awarded advertising networks. Founded in 1928 through the merger of the George Batten Company (established 1891) and Barton, Durstine & Osborn (founded 1919). Headquartered in New York City. Operates in 80+ countries with roughly 1,900 employees across six continents. Part of Omnicom Group since 1986 — the "Big-Bang" merger that formed the parent holding company. Global President and CEO Nancy Reyes since October 1, 2024. Global Chief Creative Officer Chris Beresford-Hill. Global Chairman Andrew Robertson — the former CEO whose two-decade tenure delivered seven Cannes Lions Network of the Year wins and the first-ever Network of the Decade honor.
The Firm at a Glance
- Founded: 1928 (from Batten Co. 1891 + Barton, Durstine & Osborn 1919)
- Headquarters: New York, NY
- Parent: Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC), since 1986
- Global President & CEO: Nancy Reyes (since October 1, 2024)
- Global Chief Creative Officer: Chris Beresford-Hill
- Global Chairman: Andrew Robertson (CEO 2004–2024)
- Employees: ~1,900 across six continents
- Presence: 80+ countries
- Motto: "Do Big Things" (adopted early 2025, replacing "The Work.")
- Notable global clients: Mars (Snickers, Twix, Pedigree, Whiskas, Galaxy), AT&T, HP, PepsiCo, The Home Depot, Enterprise Holdings, Heineken, Guinness (via AMV BBDO)
History
BBDO's roots trace to 1891, when George Batten founded The George Batten Company in New York. In 1919, three former N.W. Ayer executives — Bruce Barton, Roy Durstine, and Alex Osborn — founded Barton, Durstine & Osborn. The two firms merged in 1928 to form Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn — the name that gave the agency its four-letter identity, and one of the enduring puzzles of the ad industry (say the acronym out loud once and it never leaves you).
The mid-century decades established BBDO as one of Madison Avenue's dominant creative shops. Alex Osborn — the "O" — is credited with codifying the technique the industry now calls brainstorming, published in his 1953 book Applied Imagination. BBDO's client roster during the postwar era included General Electric, Pepsi, DuPont, and Chrysler.
The pivotal modern moment came in 1986, when BBDO CEO Allen Rosenshine engineered the "Big-Bang" merger with DDB Needham, forming Omnicom Group in response to competitive pressure from other emerging holding-company conglomerates. Rosenshine became president and CEO of the new Omnicom. BBDO continued as a subsidiary — but the industry had structurally reorganized around holding companies, with BBDO one of the flagship networks anchoring that model.
Leadership Today
Nancy Reyes assumed the global president and CEO role on October 1, 2024, succeeding Andrew Robertson after his two-decade tenure. Reyes joined BBDO in October 2023 as CEO of the Americas — a role in which she moved fast enough on client relationships and internal culture that Robertson signaled her succession publicly within a year of her arrival. Her elevation was the largest leadership transition at the network since 2004.
Chris Beresford-Hill serves as Global Chief Creative Officer, anchoring the creative product across the network. Reyes and Beresford-Hill lead the network's next chapter — one shaped by the Omnicom-IPG merger completed in November 2025, the integration of former IPG agency brands into the Omnicom structure, and the growing pressure on holding-company networks to prove creativity still drives business outcomes rather than just award-show wins.
Andrew Robertson, now Global Chairman, remains active in client work and network coaching. Under his leadership from 2004 to 2024, BBDO was named Cannes Lions' Network of the Year seven times, honored as the festival's first-ever Network of the Decade, named Most Effective Network in the world five times by the Global Effies, and recognized as Best of the Best by WARC. Robertson was inducted into the AAF Hall of Fame in 2022.
Notable Campaigns
Snickers — "You're Not You When You're Hungry"
BBDO's defining modern global campaign. Debuted during the 2010 Super Bowl with Betty White and Abe Vigoda, and has since run in 87 markets. The universal insight — hunger brings out the worst in you — got personified with celebrities from Robin Williams (US) to Joan Collins (UK) to Home and Away star Ray Meagher (Australia). To date the campaign has earned 13 Cannes Lions, 12 Effies, 13 One Show awards, two D&AD Pencils, two Emmy nominations, one IPA Effectiveness Award, and the first-ever Super Bowl Clio.
The commercial impact matches the creative haul. In its first full year the campaign grew global Snickers sales 15.9% and expanded market share in 56 of the 58 markets in which it ran. The relationship earned BBDO further Mars business in 2011 — Dove Galaxy, Twix, Whiskas, and Pedigree — establishing what has become the industry's most cited big-idea global-plus-local campaign template.
General Electric — "We Bring Good Things to Life"
Launched in 1979. Ran for 24 years until 2003. One of the most recognized corporate taglines in American advertising history, spending hundreds of millions annually to build emotional equity across GE's sprawling consumer and industrial portfolio. The campaign became a cultural touchstone — the kind of tagline that spawned SNL parodies in the 1980s and, decades later, meme reuse on social platforms.
Guinness — "Made of More" (AMV BBDO)
AMV BBDO in London built one of the most decorated advertising franchises of the modern era for Guinness. The 2010 "Bring It to Life" spot — a global chain reaction sparked by a pint of Guinness — went viral for its cinematic storytelling. The "Made of More" platform launched in 2011 and evolved through campaigns like the 2013 "Sapeurs" work in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2025, AMV BBDO strategy partner Joe Smith and joint CCO Nadja Lossgott walked The Future of Advertising audience through Guinness's transformation into the top-selling beer in the UK — driven by the deliberate visual repositioning to a "drinker's eye view" and the brand's counterintuitive embrace of the Shit London Guinness viral account rather than fighting it.
Visa — "It's Everywhere You Want to Be"
Won in 1985 for $15 million. The account grew to $350 million and stayed at BBDO for 20 years before moving to sister Omnicom agency TBWA\Chiat\Day. Returned to BBDO for global creative duties in 2012, then moved to Wieden+Kennedy in 2020. The tagline remains one of the most recognized in financial services advertising.
Pedigree — "Feed the Good"
Mars-owned pet-care brand campaign built on the same global-idea-with-local-execution template that made the Snickers work travel. Rolled out through BBDO offices in Brazil, China, Germany, Dubai, and beyond.
Awards and Recognition
- Cannes Lions Network of the Year: Seven times under Andrew Robertson
- Cannes Lions Network of the Decade: First-ever recipient
- Global Effies Most Effective Network: Five times
- WARC: Named Best of the Best
- The Gunn Report / World Advertising Research Center: Consistently named the world's most awarded agency network during Robertson's tenure
- Industry Global Agency of the Year: Multiple times across trade publications
BBDO sits alongside FleishmanHillard, Golin Ketchum, Porter Novelli, DeVries Global, and — following the November 2025 Omnicom-IPG merger — Weber Shandwick under the Omnicom umbrella. Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) is one of the four global advertising and communications holding companies, alongside WPP, Publicis Groupe, and Interpublic (now integrated into Omnicom). John Wren has served as Omnicom's chairman and CEO since 1997.
Where BBDO Sits Now
The post-IPG merger period is the most consequential structural shift for BBDO since 1986. Reyes and Beresford-Hill are simultaneously integrating former agency brands into the global BBDO structure, managing leadership shifts across key markets, and repositioning the network's creative product around what Reyes has publicly framed as "impact over output" — creativity measured by business outcomes rather than volume of executions. The "Do Big Things" tagline, adopted in early 2025 replacing the previous "The Work.", codifies the shift.
For a network built around the biggest global creative campaigns of the past four decades, the challenge is proving that model still competes with performance marketing platforms, in-house brand teams, and the AI-native creative shops now entering the market.
The AI Communications Angle
Legacy advertising networks now face the same structural pressure as legacy PR networks: buyers, journalists, and consumers increasingly research brands through AI engines rather than traditional search. The retrieval layer inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews is now where brand consideration is shaped — before any advertising touches the buyer. For BBDO's client roster of Fortune 500 consumer brands, this means the creative work has to earn citation inside the AI engines, not just impressions on television, or the campaign lift stops compounding at the point of purchase intent.
The full framework for how brands are winning inside AI-driven buyer research is covered in EPR's The GEO Canon and AI Visibility pillars.
