DDB Chairman Emeritus to join Sir Bob Geldof at Business Breakfast

Rules are for people who don’t know what to do, says DDB’s Reinhard
A DDB Breakfast Series, Sir Bob Geldof talking Creativity and Humanity – Capital Club, DIFC, Dubai, Thursday May 16, 2013

Dubai, May 13 2013: Sir Bob Geldof, the celebrated Irish musician, businessman and human rights activist and Keith Reinhard, Chairman Emeritus, DDB Worldwide will spearhead a debate on the relationship between Creativity and Humanity at a special invitation-only breakfast briefing at Dubai’s Capital Club, later this month.

Sir Bob is billed to open the inaugural session of DDB’s ‘A Breakfast With….’ series on May 16 to a guest list representing a cross-section of C-suite executives from the UAE’s leading business sectors. The initiative is conceived by DDB Dubai and PDDB Saudi Arabia.

“Marketers are at their best when they create communication that simultaneously lifts sales, spirits and society,” said Reinhard. DDB Worldwide is one of the world’s largest and most awarded advertising and marketing networks.

Dominic Gothard, Senior Vice President, DDB Dubai and KSA said that throughout the firm’s 64 year history, it has placed great importance on creativity and humanity in the workplace with DDB agencies being encouraged to dedicate time and talent pro bono to issues and causes aimed at bettering the world.

Reinhard and the Boomtown Rats lead singer will suggest how the power of creativity can lead to business and personal success, suggesting that rules actually dilute compliance, innovation and excellence.

Geldof used his rock star status to create the internationally successful Band Aid and Live Aid campaigns, as well as spearhead the Live 8 initiative to ensure Africa’s plight did not slip off international agendas. He was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in 1986.

“In a creative organisation the stronger the collaborative culture, the less need for structure. But the opposite is also true – the weaker the culture, the more need for structure,” Reinhard said.

The Chairman Emeritus explained that DDB’s global team is guided by what he calls ‘the four pillars of freedom – the Freedom from fear, the Freedom to fail, Freedom from chaos and the Freedom to be.

“Creative people thrive in environments that stimulate and reward original thinking – where freedom is valued and controls are kept to a minimum. Indeed, rules are for people who don’t know what to do,” he concluded.

The inaugural ‘Breakfast With’ event is jointly hosted with DDB’s digital agency, Tribal DDB along with Tracylocke, a consumer and shopper marketing engagement agency, and CRM/DM full-service house, Rapp. 

DDB Dubai is a part of DDB Worldwide (www.ddb.com), one of the world’s largest and most awarded advertising and marketing networks. In 2012, DDB was named Advertising Network of the Year by Campaign, as well as Agency of the Year and Digital Agency of the Year by Strategy magazine.

At the prestigious 2012 Cannes International Festival of Creativity, DDB won 82 Lions, the most ever for the network. In addition, The Gunn Report has listed DDB as one of the Top 3 Global Networks for the last 12 years. The agency’s clients include PepsiCo, Unilever, Mars, Johnson & Johnson, and Henkel, among others.

Founded in 1949, DDB is part of the Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC) and consists of more than 200 offices in over 90 countries with its flagship office in New York, NY.