Beneath the elegant and utterly charming veneer of one of advertising's legendary leaders beats the performance-pounding pulse of a man whose dedication and passion for advertising and clients know no boundary. (Okay, so he secretly wanted to be a copywriter…) The creative world's loss was the account world's gain. As Chairman and CEO of Young & Rubicam Advertising, John led the agency to its apex of performance. Upon retiring from Y&R, John took a much-deserved two-week vacation, whereupon he sat down with a yellow legal pad and mapped out the creation of a new kind of ad agency: lean, service-focused, peopled with a select group of high-level talent. He founded that agency with two friends and colleagues he trusts with his life, Gordon Bowen and Stewart Owen. He's a man who still believes in the power of a face-to-face meeting, a handwritten note, a big idea. And he still beats the alarm clock's 6:30 ring every morning of his life.

Jennifer Zimmerman loves Metro-North. She loves it because in her daily commute from Connecticut to New York, she gets to think. She thinks about our clients, their marketing problems, their brands, their future, their target markets. Her thinking helped lead to the agency's wins of Chase, Disney, and Century 21 and has helped those clients grow with us. For the past year, her thinking is helping Marriott International in the repositioning of many of their brands. She also serves as the lead strategist for mcgarrybowen's growing Brand Voice practice, helping brands find and express their voice and personality. A 20-year industry veteran, Jennifer spent a large part of her career at Y&R Advertising and Wunderman NY, most recently in 2001 when she was EVP, Director of Strategy for the NY office. There, she oversaw strategic work for clients like AT&T, American Express, Citibank, Merck, Sears, and Sony, among many others. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and currently lives in Westport, CT with her husband, Gary, and their two children.

They say a good art director can write, and a good writer can art direct. Such is the case with Danny Gregory. Though technically a writer, Danny Gregory has the talent, the sensitivity, and the soul of a true artist. It's evident in the half-dozen beautifully illustrated books he's published, and it's evident in his work for our clients. Danny's artistic approach weaves emotional human stories with strategic marketing objectives. The result is work that tugs on heartstrings, tickles funny bones, and most of all, elevates brands and drives results. His leadership on our “Chase What Matters” campaign is a prime example of his style. He's also lent his creative influence to our work on Verizon, Chevron, Crayola, Pfizer, JPMorgan Chase, and The Wall Street Journal. As Executive Creative Director and Managing Director, Danny is one of the driving forces behind mcgarrybowen's creative muscle, overseeing the efforts of the New York office in partnership with Mark Koelfgen.

Beeker looks after creative strategy for the agency in London and its clients, including Uniqlo, greentomatogroup and Nintendo.

Previously Beeker led the communications strategy for Toyota, Google and Reebok at glue London, including the launch of the iQ, Google’s Chrome browser, and the pan-European repositioning of Reebok. Before that, she worked on NPD and design at Bloom, with Mr & Mrs Smith, Cadbury and Diageo.

Beeker is most interested in finding new models for communications, and in prioritising the magical and the human in the process. Examples include iPad Light Painting, Moving Wallpaper* and the Canon PIXMA Sound Sculptures.

She has spoken at PSFK, Interesting, OFFF, CAT London, the IPA and Papercamp, and writes for various on and offline publications and at http://beeker.typepad.com.

Beeker is named after the muppet.

In 1998, Daniel had a decision to make: become a rock band drummer, a Lufthansa pilot, or an advertising designer. It was an easy decision: he wanted to be creative. He started off at a small digital agency before becoming an art director at Springer & Jacoby. After a stint at DDB he joined Serviceplan in 2007, where he co-developed the Plan.Net campaign at the company’s Hamburg office. In October 2011, he brought his experience in cross-media brand communication and management to Dentsu.

Over past several years, he has provided support for clients, accounts, and projects of all sizes. On or offline has never been the deciding factor; the idea is far more important.

In the process he has won over 150 national and international creative awards for clients like NIVEA, Olympus, Lego, UNICEF, Mercedes Benz, and Volkswagen, including five Lions at Cannes. Daniel is a member and juror of the Art Directors Club Germany.