DDB Chicago Named the Best Place to Work by Chicago Magazine

Chicago, September 13, 2004 - Chicago magazine, the largest city monthly magazine in the U.S., named DDB Chicago the best company to work for in Chicago. The October cover story profiled the 25 best companies to work for in the Chicago metropolitan area including law firms, technology companies and retailers that offer their employees an exceptional array of compensation, benefits and perks.

"We're thrilled with the recognition from Chicago magazine because we work very hard to make this a place where our people can be their very best, and have fun doing it," said Bob Scarpelli, DDB Chicago Chairman and U.S. Chief Creative Officer. "This is a testament to the amazing people who work here producing better ideas that lead to better results"

To determine the ranking, Chicago magazine partnered with the MRA, a non-profit employers' group that advises clients on human resources. MRA developed an extensive questionnaire to measure company policies and practices in pay, benefits, perks, turnover, training and opportunity for advancement, diversity, work-life balance, employee voice in the workplace and community involvement. After determining a group of top-scoring semifinalists, MRA then conducted a confidential survey of a random sampling of employees at those companies. This survey measured workers' satisfaction with their pay, benefits, and overall workplace culture. The company score and the employee score were weighted equally and added together to determine a final total score and ranking.

"Being named the Best Place to Work in all of Chicago is a wonderful honor and a testament to the very special culture here at DDB," said Dana Anderson, President and CEO of DDB Chicago. "We are committed to nurturing the special environment here which allows our employees to do their very best work for our clients."

Chicago reaches more than 186,000 readers each month. In May 2004, the publication received the National Magazine Award for general excellence in its circulation category. Chicago is operated by Chicagoland Publishing Co., a subsidiary of Tribune Company.

"These standout companies are doing everything in their power to make life better—more convenient, more flexible, more rewarding—for their employees, both inside and outside the office," said Shane Tritsch, managing editor of Chicago magazine. "They truly are great places to work."

DDB Chicago is the largest DDB agency and is one of the world's most awarded agencies in terms of creativity and effectiveness. Named Agency of the Year by the Clio Awards in both 2003 and 2004, DDB Chicago works for a strong roster of blue-chip clients including Anheuser-Busch, McDonald's, Dell, State Farm, ALLTEL, JCPenney, The Home Depot, Novartis, OfficeMax, Midas and Dairy Management Inc.

DDB Worldwide (www.ddb.com), Advertising Age's and Adweek's 2003 Global Agency of the Year, is one of the leading advertising agency networks in the world with 206 offices in 96 countries. Acknowledged as the industry's most creative multinational network, DDB has won more Grand Prix Awards in the 50-year history of the International Advertising Festival in Cannes than any other agency, and over the last 16 years, has won more awards in Cannes than any other agency network. In 2004, for the fourth year in a row, DDB was also named Network Agency of the Year at the Clio Awards.

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