MUMBAI, INDIA – Phyllis Robinson was a remarkable woman. But in 1949, men stood in the spotlight. While Bill Bernbach is often credited for sparking the creative revolution, only some know Phyllis Robinson was the true influence behind so much of DDB’s iconic work for Orbach’s, Volkswagen, and Polaroid.
As an extension of the highly-awarded ‘Highlight the Remarkable’ campaign from Stabilo Boss and DDB Germany, DDB highlights Phyllis, her legacy and her trailblazing spirit that lives through employees everywhere today.
Phyllis was a pioneer, not just for women but for the creative advertising revolution that she helped ignite, changing the face of the industry forever. She was one of the founding employees of Doyle Dane Bernbach back in 1949, the agency’s first Copy Chief and the first female Copy Chief in the United States.
DDB Global Chief People Officer Roisin Rooney: “We’ve all heard the phrase, “Behind every great man is a great woman.” Throughout history, women have been upstaged, their actions and successes overshadowed by the men that surround them. We’re proud to partner with Stabilo Boss, using the campaign concept created by DDB Group Germany, to highlight further Phyllis’ impact on not only DDB but the advertising industry today.”
DDB Mudra Group’s Vanaja Pillai, Project Lead – Phyllis India Project said, “What better way to celebrate Phyllis and her work than to create an environment that instills her spirit and her fearlessness on the ground? It has been exhilarating journey for us in India as we saw the creation and execution of the Phyllis India Project in the last two years. We have had good representation of women in advertising for over a decade now, but that hasn’t translated to an equal representation in leadership. Inspired by icons like Phyllis Robinson, our efforts in the program were directed towards making sure that there are many more women who are enabled and empowered to rise to leadership, successfully. In fact, this International Women’s Day we are celebrating our first batch of graduates from this intense program, and we are so proud of them!”
Created by DDB Germany, the Stabilo Boss campaign has been widely celebrated with the initial campaign platform created in 2019 highlighting three remarkable women in NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, US First Lady Edith Wilson and Austrian-Sweden physicist Meitner.
The campaign is supported by a worldwide social campaign featuring the female leaders of the DDB network sharing what #BreakTheBias means to them.
