Aderwize

Chief Creative Officer / Leo Burnett, Chicago

Susan Credle, Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett Chicago, believes that tenacious strategic thinking expressed through great creative with scale is what really drives dynamic change for businesses and brands.

“When people ask you what you do for living, it’s much more fun to say, “well, have you seen (description of your work here)” than to answer advertising.”

Susan came to Leo Burnett in the fall of 2009, after more than two decades at BBDO where she rose from “bathroom-break girl” for the agency’s receptionists to EVP, Executive Creative Director. There, Susan, with her partner, Steve Rutter, reinvented the iconic M&M’s characters; helped turn Cingular Wireless from a small challenger brand into a category leader; and created other consistently award-winning work for such clients as Bank of America, FedEx, Gillette, Lowe’s, PepsiCo, Pizza Hut and Visa.

Since joining Leo Burnett, Susan has spearheaded a creative renaissance. She has raised the bar for the work and instilled a collaborative environment that has produced some of the agency’s most memorable campaigns in years, starting with the multi –media Allstate Mayhem campaign. For Esurance, the first ad after Super Bowl XLVIII  proved the perfect place to launch the  #EsuranceSave30 Twitter campaign. The Chicago Tribune called it the “unofficial Big Idea” of the game. And Susan is always looking for purpose driven ideas for brands like Secret's anti-bullying initiative, Mean Stinks, which continues to make a difference in young girl’s lives.

Susan is a member of the Creative Review Board of the Ad Council and serves on the boards of The University of North Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, The American Association of Advertising Agencies, The One Club, The VCU Brandcenter, The IAB, The Foundation for EXXcellence in Women’s Health Care, Marwen, Chicago Ideas Week and One Million Degrees.

The industry at large has recognized Susan’s contributions to the advertising world with honors including CAF’s Chicago Ad Woman of the Year in 2013, one of Advertising Age’s 100 Most Influential Women in Advertising, one of Business Insider’s Most Creative Women in Advertising, the 2014 Cannes Lion Jury President for Promo and Activation and inductions into the AAF’s Hall of Achievement and The North Carolina Advertising Hall of Fame.