Obie Judges - 2007
Bill Ludwig - Chief Judge
Campbell-Ewald Advertising
William Ludwig developed the "Quality of Life Insight" which drives the Strategic Planning Process and creative philosophy of Campbell-Ewald Best known for award-winning work on Chevrolet, he has additionally created advertising for American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Bissell, Borders, Coke, Conoco Phillips, Continental Airlines, DIRECTV, Farmers Insurance, Gerber Products, Ghirardelli, Kaiser Permanente, Lionel, Michelin, National City Bank, OnStar, Pier 1, TiVo, United Nations, United States Navy, United States Postal Service, and Whirlpool.
During his career he has won hundreds of awards, including Cannes, Clios, Art Director’s Awards, Effies, MPA Kelly Award, Advertising Age’s Top 100 and numerous others. He was inducted into the American Advertising Federal Advertising Hall of Achievement. He is a member of the Wall Street Journal’s Creative Leaders and serves on the Ad Council. In 1999, he served as the US judge at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.
Karl Eller
Eller Company
Karl Eller has been in the forefront of the outdoor advertising industry for over 50 years. He started his career at Foster & Kleiser Outdoor Advertising Company in Arizona. He quickly ventured into his own practice and served as president for Combined Communication Corporation (CCC) which eventually merged with Gannett where he was named chief executive officer. He spent three years as the president of Columbia Pictures Communications, moved to head up a commercial business enterprise, and later started up his own outdoor business calling it Eller Media. When Clear Channel Communications merged with Eller Media, he served as chairman and CEO of the outdoor division until he retired. Since his retirement he has received the Outdoor Advertising Association of America Lifetime Achievement Award, the American Advertising Silver Medal Award, and was inducted into the American Advertising Federation’s Advertising Hall of Fame.
Rich Gagnon
DRAFTFCB
Richard Gagnon heads the global media offering of DRAFTFCB. He believes that today’s media landscape allows consumers to be more interactive with media. This mindset has helped guide his teams to 11 MediaWeek Plan of the Year Awards. In 2006, DRAFTFCB earned "Plan of the Year" for an anti-drug initiative. Prior to this position, he was Media Director of FCBi, a unit dedicated to engaging consumers through direct and digital communications.
Margaret Keene
TBWA\Chiat\Day
Always a bigger fan of commercials that actual programming, Margaret Keene went into advertising with passion. Her vision and talent have helped create some of the most successful brands in the history of the agency: Levi’s, Apple, Taco Bell, EarthLink and Pedigree to name a few. Her efforts have garnered virtually every award in the industry including Cannes lions, Communication Arts, D&AD, The One Show, The Clio’s, The Kelly Awards, The OBIEs (two Best of Shows), The New York Art Director’s Club (Best of Show), and The Effie Awards (two Grand Effies).
Jim Lesser
BBDO West
Jim Lesser started his career in advertising, answering phones for Scali, McCabe, Sloves in New York. He ended up on the west coast at BBDO West where he rose to executive creative director. Under Jim’s leadership, BBDO West now operates two full-service offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Jim splits his time between the two cities and the agency continues to win new business and create award-winning campaigns for clients such as California Lottery, Air New Zealand, Gallo Wines, Mitsubishi Motors and the San Francisco Zoo.
Jose Reyes
TURBULENCE
An artist in his private life, Jose works as the creative director over English and Spanish projects. He has received numerous awards for his work including ADDY awards (National Silver for Print), Best of Show TV for American Airlines, and most recently Best of Show interactive. The Gold-winning work for the Florida Lottery and Ford Motor Company, as well as Gold, Silver, and Bronze AHAA creative awards, finalists at FIAP, and the New York Festival.
Joe Sciarrotta
Ogilvy & Mather
Joe's work for Bud Light made Advertising Age's "Top 50 Commercials of All Time" and added "Yes I am" to the American lexicon. In 2006, he won the American Marketing Association's Grand Effie for Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty." He has twice been named to AdWeek's Creative All-Star lists and was included in the 1994 Crain's "40 under 40" list. Joe was a founding partner of the Leap Partnership, a successful creative boutique. He now sits on Ogilvy's Worldwide Creative Council, serves on the Board of Directors of VCU AdCenter, and is an active member of the Directors' Guild of America.