LEO BURNETT ELEVATES MARK TUTSSEL TO GLOBAL CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER

Leo Burnett Worldwide today named Mark Tutssel global chief creative officer, replacing Miguel Angel Furones, who held that post since 2003.
Mr. Tutssel's shift from deputy chief creative officer - a post he held for just over a year - completes a reshuffling of top management at the Publicis Groupe network that began with the 2004 hiring of Tom Bernardin as president of Leo Burnett Worldwide and Ford Motor Co.'s Rich Stoddart as Burnett's U.S. president. In 2005, the agency promoted John Condon to U.S. chief creative officer.
"We're at a place where the rebuilding of the company has taken place," Tutssel said in an interview. "You're going to see a massive, massive step forward in terms of the quality of the work."
Tutssel, 47, who as deputy oversaw Burnett's global accounts for Samsung, McDonald's Corp., General Motors Corp. and Kellogg Co., will be charged with restoring growth at the iconic agency's 94 offices. Revenues declined 2% during 2005, to $807.3 million, according to Advertising Age's 2006 Agency Report.
"Restoring growth is obviously critical to the health and well-being of our agency, but we need to grow in an intelligent way," Mr. Tutssel said. He cited recent major account wins on Samsung and Washington Mutual as examples where the agency was able to use its scale to its advantage through collaboration between different regional offices.
In earlier Burnett stints, Tutssel was the No. 2 creative in the agency's flagship Chicago office - where he reportedly clashed with former U.S. top creative Cheryl Berman - and executive creative director of Burnett's London office.