Stoddart – President @ Leo Burnett USA.

Leo Burnett Worldwide President and Leo Burnett USA CEO Tom Bernardin today named Richard Stoddart president of Leo Burnett USA. A former Burnetter, Stoddart was most recently manager of Marketing Communications at Ford Motor Company.

Stoddart will lead the flagship U.S. agency in partnership with Bernardin and Chairman and Chief Creative Officer Cheryl Berman as Bernardin transitions into the role of Leo Burnett Worldwide chairman and CEO upon Linda Wolf’s retirement next year, as announced in February 2004. Stoddart will start in January 2005 and will report directly to Bernardin.

“The search for the right person to lead our U.S. agency was extensive and attracted a superb list of A-level candidates who were extremely impressive. But none more so than Rich Stoddart. His experience, drive, talent and obvious love for this business separated him from the pack early on,” said Bernardin. “But most important, Rich is a practitioner of holistic marketing as evidenced by his distinguished track record at Ford. His holistic communications approach combined with his Burnett pedigree and stellar stint at Fallon made him the obvious choice to lead Leo Burnett USA.”

Stoddart returns to Burnett to assume the post after spending the last 10 years at both Ford Motor Company and sister Publicis Groupe agency Fallon, based in Minneapolis. Since 2001, he has served as manager of Marketing Communications at Ford overseeing creative and media strategy and execution.

His role included managing Ford’s Marketing Communications department and annual budget of upwards of $800 million as well as its agency relationships. He was responsible for several high-profile initiatives including the “Ford on Ford” brand campaign, the successful F-150 launch and the launch of six new vehicles as well as Ford’s “Built For The Road Ahead” campaign in 2005.

Stoddart has led the push into branded entertainment at Ford with the development of several brand integration programs and partnerships including “American Idol,” “24,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and “American Dreams.” While at Ford, Stoddart was also a recipient of the prestigious American Advertising Federation “Hall of Fame” Achievement Award in 2002, recognizing advertising professionals under the age of 40 who have demonstrated outstanding career achievements with measurable results.

“I’m an agency guy at heart. Agencies are where I grew up, and where my best work remains to be done. And the fact is, there is no other agency in the world that I would want to go to other than Leo Burnett. I have a lot of enthusiasm and respect for the Leo Burnett brand, and it was the singular agency opportunity that appealed to me. I have a tremendous sense of optimism about the future of Leo Burnett, based on the strength of its people, its culture and its clients,” said Stoddart.