Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Declares January 10, 2006 'BBDO Day' in the City of New York

NEW YORK, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has proclaimed Tuesday, January 10, 2006 as "BBDO Day" in New York City in honor of the agency's record-setting performance during 2005. The agency was named "U.S. Agency of the Year" by the trade publication Advertising Age, "Global Agency of the Year" by Adweek magazine, and "Advertising Network of the Year" by Campaign, the leading advertising industry journal in the UK.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060110/NYTU013 )

This marks the first time that a New York City Mayor has bestowed this honor upon an advertising agency. It also marks the first time that one agency has been named "Agency of the Year" by all three leading advertising industry publications.

BBDO was chosen "Agency of the Year" based on a combination of factors including "a stunning new business performance," which saw the agency rein in more than $1 billion in new business. New accounts included eBay, E*TRADE FINANCIAL, Levitra, Lowe's, Mitsubishi and Motorola, among others. In addition, BBDO was confirmed as a P&G roster agency following the company's purchase of Gillette. BBDO also posted its best performance in history at this year's Cannes International Advertising Festival, winning a total of 37 Lions; and 21 different BBDO agencies around the world were named "Agency of the Year" in their respective markets, including Almap BBDO in Brazil, which was named the most awarded agency in the world for the second year in a row according to The Gunn Report.

In proclaiming January 10 as "BBDO Day," in New York City, Mayor Bloomberg wrote, "I am proud to extend my congratulations to every one of BBDO's 17,000 employees working in 286 offices worldwide ... For more than a century, BBDO has worked diligently to keep our city economically and culturally dynamic. New York City joins the advertising industry in honoring BBDO as agency of the year."

This marks the third time since 2000 that BBDO has been named "Agency of the Year" in its industry. In January 2001, Ad Age named BBDO its "Global Agency Network." The following year, BBDO won this award again, as it was named "Global Agency of the Year" by both Ad Age and Adweek magazines.

Headquartered in New York City, BBDO Worldwide is the third largest global agency network with 286 offices in 76 countries. BBDO develops and executes marketing and communications plans for some of the world's best known brands. BBDO's professional commitment is captured in the agency's operating mantra, "The Work. The Work. The Work." It is this obsessive focus on the work that has enabled BBDO to earn the distinction of being the most awarded global agency network in the world for the past seven years, according to The Gunn Report (which combines the winner lists from all of the world's most important creative competitions).

BBDO Worldwide is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. . Omnicom is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.