The recent visit to the Philippines of DDB Worldwide (DDB) Global Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Wendy Clark brought back fond memories for DDB Group Philippines Chairman and CEO Gil G. Chua.
It was in 1997 when, as executive vice president and head of Media and Account Management of AMA-DDB Needham Worldwide Philippines (the forerunner of DDB Group Phils.), Gil welcomed then DDB’s global CEO Keith Reinhard to the country.
He brought Reinhard to his home in White Plains, Quezon City with his three children serving as his unofficial welcoming committee. His eldest son Chewy was then 20 years old, while his two daughters, Anna and Diane, are 18 and 15 years old, respectively.
Twenty-two years later, Gil, now DDB Group Philippines’ Chairman and CEO, would welcome another DDB Worldwide CEO, Wendy Clark.
And this time, DDB Group Philippines has grown to become one of the country’s largest integrated creative business solutions and services provider. Gil had an army of employees welcoming his special guest. And among the DDB leaders in the Philippines that welcomed Clark were the same people who welcomed Reinhard in 1997 – his kids!
Still adolescents during the late ‘90s Philippine visit of Reinhard, who is now Chairman Emeritus of DDB Worldwide, the Chua progenies are now part of DDB Group Philippines as three of its key executives. Chewy is the managing director of the group’s data analytics arm Agile Intelligence, Anna Chua-Norbert is the Chief Culture Officer primarily in charge of the group’s Talent Management and Corporate Affairs, while Diane Chua is the managing director of the group’s digital agency Tribal Worldwide Philippines.
“My kids are part of my DDB journey from the very start. They’ve joined me in welcoming Reinhard, the first time DDB’s global CEO visited the country, up to now when an advertising powerhouse of a woman, Wendy Clark, visited the country.
“We are a family here at DDB Group Philippines… literally! It’s been such a blessing to have my children share their talent and passion with the group. Yes, you can definitely say that being a DDB leader runs in the family,” Chua said.
A part of DDB Worldwide, DDB Group Philippines (www.ddb.com.ph) is the country’s first integrated marketing communications and services network that provides total business solutions to client partners. It comprises three agency networks (DDB PHL, DDB MNL, Tribal Worldwide Philippines), three specialist agencies (Ripple8, Agile Intelligence, Bent and Buzz), two media companies (Touch XDA and Optimax), and five strategic business units.
One of the world’s largest and most influential advertising and marketing networks, DDB Worldwide has been named Agency of the Year numerous times by the Cannes International Festival of Creativity and the industry’s leading advertising publications and awards shows. For 12 of the last 15 years, the Gunn Report has listed DDB as one of the Top 3 Global Networks.
