What’s Next? Preparing Your Students for the Future

Edward Russell spent 25 years in the advertising business working for some of the largest and best-known firms in the world. After graduating with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in advertising, he went to work for Ted Bates, the then largest advertising agency in the world, in New York City. After being acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi, Russell moved to Frankfurt, Germany as European account director. The Berlin Wall came down six months after he arrived, and suddenly, he had the opportunity to open new offices all over Eastern Europe. After his stint in Germany, Russell moved east and became CEO of Leo Burnett’s office in Warsaw, Poland. Though the country initially had no advertising business, the Warsaw office became one of Leo Burnett’s most awarded offices. Russell later moved to Leo Burnett’s Chicago headquarters, where he led the agency’s Procter & Gamble international business. There, he was responsible for over 400 brands in 98 countries and managed nearly $1 billion in billings. The agency won more new business from P&G during this time than in their entire history. Russell has been teaching at the SI Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University since the fall of 2003. Russell wrote Leo Burnett’s international training program, “LeoSmarts” and is the author of “The Fundamentals of Marketing” from Bloomsbury Publishing out of the United Kingdom. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Rebecca, and they have two grown daughters: Emily, a social worker, and Kirsten, who works in advertising in New York City.