Rich Stoddart

Rich Stoddart is a proven marketing leader who drives growth and innovation for one of the worldʼs most effective and most awarded communication companies, Leo Burnett.
Under his leadership the last 11 years, Leo Burnett North America has experienced significant growth and the acquisition of new accounts and top talent, while delivering some of the most effective, integrated and talked-about campaigns for blue-chip clients, including Allstate, Esurance, General Motors, Kelloggʼs, McDonaldʼs, Purina, Samsung and P&G, among others.
As CEO, Rich is recognized for his leadership in the development and the integration of shopper, digital, social and mobile capabilities that make these campaigns successful. Most notably, he has aligned Leo Burnett and sister shopper marketing services agency Arc, enabling the delivery of seamless, cross-platform ideas. Uniting the complementary strengths of Burnett and Arc together, as Leo Burnett himself said, “helps clients build a quality reputation for the long haul and generate sales for the immediate present.”Rich has also helped engineer new business units within the Leo Burnett Group — from innovation armFarmhouse to the agencyʼs robust design offerings.
Chief among his personal success drivers is an unwavering focus on talent, which has helped the agency consistently win “Best Place to Work” accolades from The Chicago Tribune.
Rich began his career at Leo Burnett in 1985 working on the Hewlett-Packard account as a media buyer/planner. He then transitioned to account management, quickly rising through the ranks over the next 10 years to become account director.
He left Chicago in 1995 to join Fallon, a sister Publicis Groupe agency, as a member of its Minneapolis management team. During his time there, Fallon earned “Agency of the Year” honors from both Adweek and Advertising Age.
Six years later in 2001, Rich joined Ford Motor Co. as manager of marketing communications. He successfully led all of Fordʼs agency relationships, CRM, web efforts, multi-cultural efforts and stewarded an annual budget of over $800 million. While at Ford, Rich was a recipient of the prestigious American Advertising Federation "Hall of Fame" Achievement Award, recognizing ad professionals under the age of 40 who have demonstrated outstanding career achievements.
Rich returned to Leo Burnett in 2005 as president of Leo Burnett Chicago and was named Leo Burnett Worldwide CEO in January 2016. He is also part of Publicis Communicationsʼs ComEx and has served on Leo Burnettʼs global leadership team for the past five years.
Outside the office, Rich lends his time and talents to the boards of The Off the Street Club, Carbon Media Group and Hasbro. In 2013, he was honored as the American Advertising Federation Multicultural Career Achiever Award recipient. He was chairman of the American Advertising Federation from 2013-2015.
Rich is a Dartmouth College graduate who, along with his wife and two daughters, is proud to call Chicago home 

Not long after joining Leo Burnett in 1985, Rich Stoddart knew why he loved our industry: “No other field calls for such a unique combination of business analysis, the study of human behavior and the insatiable desire to be creative and forward-thinking.” Twenty years later, following stops at Fallon and on the client side at Ford Motor Company, Rich returned to Leo Burnett to bring these elements together to create ideas that generate interest in our clients’ brands and grow their business. 
Rich is a proven industry leader who believes in the power of creativity to drive business results for clients. Under his leadership as CEO of Leo Burnett, the agency has experienced significant growth and the acquisitions of new accounts and top talent, while delivering some of the most effective, integrated and talked-about campaigns for blue-chip clients, including Allstate, Esurance, GM, Kellogg's, Purina, Samsung and P&G, among others.
Outside the office, Rich lends his time and talents to the boards of the Off the Street Club, Carbon Media Group and Hasbro. In 2013, he was honored as the American Advertising Federations Multicultural Careeer Achiever Award recipient.