- In today’s CEO Daily: Dani Richa, chairman and group CEO of Impact BBDO International on risk and creativity.
- The big story: OpenAI looking at $830 billion valuation for $100 billion investment.
- The markets: Europe is flat, everywhere else is up.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. In this week’s episode of Leadership Next, Kristin Stoller and I speak with Dani Richa, chairman and group CEO of Impact BBDO International. In the annals of advertising, few agencies have had more cultural heft than BBDO. In the 1960s, it made Boomers feel part of the “Pepsi Generation” and DuPont cool with the tagline “Better Things for Better Living … through Chemistry.” Matthew Weiner even cited BBDO as the model for the fictional 1960s ad agency in his hit TV series Mad Men. BBDO also created Snickers’ “You’re not you when you’re hungry” ad with Betty White, and many more iconic campaigns in its 134-year history.
As a Dubai-based CEO who oversees BBDO Worldwide’s business in the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan, Richa argues that risk is a relative concept in fast-changing markets and times. He recalls thanking one CEO for taking a bold risk with a campaign, only to be told, “What? What risk? What do you mean? The biggest risk I would have taken is not doing that.”
“The starting point is choosing partners that share your values,” he said.
In an era where brands can whip up AI-generated ads—Guess’s AI-generated model in Vogue is hopefully not a harbinger of what’s to come—Richa’s work is a reminder that technology alone will never triumph when it comes to bold ideas and creativity that’s rooted in real issues. “Big ideas that touch people, that move people, that move businesses, that never changes,” said Richa, while noting that BBDO “uses digital and social [media] like never before to amplify that messaging.”
The best ads don’t just sell products, they can change culture, politics, and the way people think. One especially memorable and award-winning campaign under his watch was “the Elections Edition” in 2022 for Lebanon’s An Nahar newspaper, which ran a blank edition, followed by an invitation for people to fill the pages with messages to politicians. It went viral, generating massive public pressure for elections and citizens’ right to vote.
Richa compares AI to giving a camera to everyone and then realizing the best photographers produce different results. “AI is going to give you tons of stuff,” he says. “To pick the right message takes a lot of experience, a lot of creative judgment.”
You can listen to our full conversation on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
Top news
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TikTok sale agreed
ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, has reached a deal to offload 80% of its U.S. assets to Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, according to Reuters. The valuation is not yet known. The deal will help the company avoid being banned in the U.S.—a longstanding promise of President Trump.
Chanel’s Claire Isnard speaks
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PayPal CEO Alex Chriss on stablecoins
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North Korea is biggest crypto thief
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More Epstein photos released
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EU agrees €90 billion loan to Ukraine
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Trump designates Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 as federal holidays
Government workers will get a five-day weekend, perhaps setting a tone for the private sector.
The markets
S&P 500 futures are up 0.33% this morning. The last session closed up 0.79%. STOXX Europe 600 was flat in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was flat in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.03%. China’s CSI 300 was up 0.34%. The South Korea KOSPI was up 0.65%. India’s NIFTY 50 was up 0.59%. Bitcoin was at $88K.
Around the watercooler
Southeast Asian economies prove resilient in the face of Trump’s tariffs as supply chains expand by Angelica Ang
Walmart’s women truckers surge thanks to $115,000 starting pay and other perks bringing in nontraditional candidates Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez by Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez
Lovable hits $6.6 billion valuation as its CEO says it wants to be ‘the last piece of software’ companies ever buy by Beatrice Nolan
‘This is a wacky number’: economists cry foul as new government data assumes zero housing inflation in surprising November drop by Eva Roytburg
How Salient, an AI loan processing startup valued at $500 million, grew ARR to $25 million in two years by Lily Mae Lazarus
CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Jim Edwards and Lee Clifford.
