Guess retirement’s working wonders for Tony Hopp. Eighteen months after stepping down as top dog at Campbell-Ewald, the 40+ year agency vet is getting inducted into the Adcraft Club of Detroit’s Hall of Fame. His successor, Bill Ludwig, sings his praises in a statement, saying, “As chairman, Tony had the vision to diversify the Agency’s business by leveraging the capabilities CE had developed over the years. He built an inspired culture on one philosophy: focus on the quality of the work, and the rewards would follow.”
Hopp started at C-E as an assistant account exec in 1968 and eventually worked his way up to president in 1993. Soon after, in 1996, he was named CEO of the Detroit agency and its chairman a year later. Some folks, though, are cynical about Hopp’s induction, citing that since right after his departure, Hopp’s former agency lost Chevy after 90 years and several notable staffers subsequently left over the course of 2010/2011. One seemingly irked tipster even asks, “Wonder how much he bequeathed to the Adcraft’s scholarship fund in order to ‘be honored with’ this designation?” Ouch, we won’t even touch that one, but in case you were wondering, Hopp will officially be inducted at Adcraft Club’s “Mad Men & Women of Detroit” event tomorrow.