Bruce Silverman

Bruce Silverman is one of America’s best known and well respected marketing-communication executives. A broad-view strategist, he is probably the only agency executive who ever served as creative director of a top five agency and went on to head one of the largest media planning and buying companies in the world.

A long-time board member of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, his 38-year advertising agency career included senior positions at Ogilvy & Mather (New York, London, Houston and Los Angeles), Bozell, BBDO/West, Asher/Gould and WongDoody, in many cases as President and CEO. Bruce Silverman was the creative mind behind:

• “Something Special in the Air” / American Airlines
• “Don’t Leave Home Without It” / American Express
• “The Best Engineered Car in the World” / Mercedes Benz
• “Bullish on America” / Merrill Lynch
• “(Not made in) ‘Nooo Yawk Ciddy’” / Pace Picante Sauce
• “The Shell Answer Man” / Shell Oil

...and a dozen other award winning campaigns for such clients as Alaska Airlines, Apple, Armour, Autodesk, Baskin-Robbins, the California Department of Health Services, Greyhound, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mattel, Pabst, Post, Sanyo, SunAmerica, Suzuki and Zale’s.

As President/CEO of the domestic arm of Interpublic’s giant Initiative Worldwide with $22 billion in annual billings, he supervised media planning and buying for Acura, Albertson’s, America Online, Bally’s Health & Fitness, Carl’s Jr., Chevrolet, Disney, Kia, Sega, Six Flags, Taco Bell, U.S. Census 2000, the United States Navy and Yahoo! As an entrepreneur, he helped build Asher/Gould into a top 100 shop, and led WongDoody to double-digit growth during his tenure there.

Bruce established his consulting practice in May 2005, which includes advising a number of advertising and public relations agencies, media properties and marketing services firms. He is Chairman and CEO of 24/6 Inc., a company that places advertising on telephone calling cards under the Pocket Billboards brand, and is Vice Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Media Re Capital Fund and Global e Network.

A graduate of Adelphi University in New York, Bruce is a confirmed theater and arts junkie, a world traveler, and a passionate Lakers fan. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, as Vice Chairman of the AAAA Western Region and as Vice President of the Los Angeles Advertising Agency Association. Bruce was a founding board member of the Los Angeles Children’s Museum, and later served as Chairman of the Resource Development Committee of the Starbright Foundation. He is an active member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, a frequent speaker at industry functions, and in his ”spare time,“ teaches at UCLA and writes for travel magazines. Bruce is married to Nancy Cole, Publisher and Editor of The Equestrian News.