Paul Gunning

Paul Gunning, a 13-year veteran of DDB Worldwide, is Chief Executive Officer of DDB Chicago, where he leads a staff of nearly 400 integrated advertising specialists. The agency prides itself on long-term client partnerships, innovative award-winning work and building deeper consumer connections to brands such as Capital One, McDonald’s, State Farm, and Mars, Inc.

Prior to assuming the DDB Chicago role, Paul served as DDB Worldwide’s Chief Digital Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Tribal Worldwide since 2008. As CEO of Tribal Worldwide, he headed a global network of over 60 offices and was very hands on with senior clients helping to guide them in the changing dynamics of the digital world. As Chief Digital Officer for DDB, Paul helped the agency expand its services and incorporate digital skills sets into DDB offices. In both roles, he maintained senior-level relationships with the Internet’s most powerful brands including Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Apple, and more.

Paul is an experienced and sought after speaker with a notable presence at international advertising, mobile and social media conferences and often quoted as a digital expert in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Businessweek. In 2012, Business Insider named him one of the top 20 most important people in Mobile Advertising. Additionally, he was a member of the first-ever, Mobile Jury at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity. In 2009, Paul was featured on the cover of Advertising Age when Tribal Worldwide was named to the Top 10 Global A-List. That same year, he was celebrated in Crain’s Business “40 Under 40″ issue.

Before joining Tribal DDB, Paul held a variety of positions at interactive advertising agencies, hi-tech merchandising companies and promotions agencies. He worked as the director of business development for Siren Technologies, a company that brought a dynamic, interactive approach to retail merchandising and in-store communications via networked plasma displays. During his tenure with Siren, Paul also led the account teams serving the Sears, Roebuck & Company, Harris Bank and McDonald’s accounts.

In addition to his professional experience, Paul was awarded an MBA in Marketing from DePaul University in 1999.