Forty-year advertising vet Jean-Marie Dru, chairman of TBWA Worldwide, will take his place yet again and preside over the judges table in the Creative Effectivness category at this year’s Cannes cabal.
As for background on Dru, the exec started out in 1971 with Dupuy Compton (which is now Saatchi & Saatchi) as an account executive on Procter & Gamble and quickly rose to the position of ECD the following year. In 1977, he joined Y&R in Paris as managing director, before becoming CEO in ’79.
During the ’80s, Dru co-founded the BDDP Group, and occupying the position of chairman. After the merger of BDDP with TBWA in 98, J-MD became international president of TBWA Worldwide and was appointed to CEO in 2001, which he held down until January 2008, when he moved to the role of chairman.
He says in a statement, “A brand-changing idea is only as big as the success it creates. Historically the biggest creative ideas have also been the hardest working and by nature effective. I am pleased to preside over the inaugural Creative Effectiveness Lions Jury at Cannes. We’ve always known the connection between effectiveness and creativity and we now have the opportunity to show the world the work we create has tangible impact on our clients business.”