Ray Gillette

Partner,
Downtown Partners Chicago, Retired

Ray began his advertising career as an account manager at McDonald & Little Advertising in Atlanta.  He joined DDB Chicago in 1978 and infused a results-oriented vision to all DDB Chicago teams.  He worked on DDB’s largest accounts ranging from Anheuser-Busch, State Farm, Discover Card, Dell, JCPenney’s and The Home Depot. 
In addition, Ray was a visionary in integrated marketing, bringing its benefits to DDB clients long before it became standard industry practice.  He was appointed president of DDB Chicago, DDB Worldwide’s largest office, in 2000.

In 2004, to take advantage of Ray’s entrepreneurial spirit, love of building new business and his desire to get back involved in solving client communications issues, Ray, along with Jim Schmidt, with the support of DDB Chicago, started Downtown Partners Chicago, an agency owned by Omnicom, the world’s most successful communications holding company.  Since opening its doors Downtown Partners has won a number of national leading brands: Walgreens, Northern Trust, Northwestern Mutual, Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau and the Kellogg School of Management.

Ray serves on the Board of StreetWise – a newspaper for the homeless – and The Advisory Board of West Virginia University’s P.I. Reed School of Journalism.  He has lectured on integrated marketing at Northwestern University, Thunderbird, the School of International Management, University of Michigan and West Virginia University.  In 2001, he was inducted into the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni.

On December 31, 2007, Ray retired from Downtown Partners Chicago so that he could spend more time working with not-for-profit organizations that benefit the disadvantaged.