“Charlotte Beers has combined her business insight with an innate Southern charm to become highly successful in the competitive world of advertising and marketing,” says AWMA President & CEO.
Charlotte Beers, former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and national advertising agency CEO, will address attendees at the Women’s Leadership Breakfast during the AWMA Marketplace & Solutions Expo at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, Feb. 24-26, 2015.
Beers, once named the “most powerful woman in advertising” and known as the “queen of Madison Avenue,” is author of the book, “I’d Rather be in Charge.” She will address the Women’s Leadership Breakfast on Thursday, Feb. 26, 7:30-8:30 a.m.
“Charlotte Beers has combined her business insight with an innate Southern charm to become highly successful in the competitive world of advertising and marketing,” said AWMA President & CEO Scott Ramminger. “We are delighted that she will be with us to address our Women’s Leadership Breakfast, now in its second year.”
She served as Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs under Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Featured on the cover of Fortune Magazine and Business Week Magazine as one of the most powerful women in America, her mantra of the difference between products and brands revolutionized major ad campaigns, bringing unprecedented success to clients and the advertising agencies she managed.
Beers began her career in advertising as an account executive at J. Walter Thompson Advertising, becoming the first female senior vice president in the firm’s history. She then became CEO of Tatham-Laird &, where under her leadership billings tripled and major accounts were acquired. She then was named chairman/CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, a $5.4 billion, 8,000-employee, multinational advertising agency.
In her five years there, billings increased by $2 billion. Harvard Business School and many other universities still teach this best-selling case study on leadership titled “Charlotte Beers at Ogilvy.” Beers was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame in 2009.
From 2001 to 2003, as Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy & Public Affairs, Beers was charged with bringing Brand America to the world, with special focus on the Middle East. For her service, Charlotte was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the State Department’s highest honor.
Beers now serves on the Board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and conducts seminars throughout Europe and the United States called “The X Factor,” “X” representing the potential of women to lead. The workshops give women the tools to take charge, find pride and power at work, and to learn to never miss a moment to lead in the many industries they represent.