DOUGLAS B. LEEDS
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Douglas B. Leeds Chief Executive & Founder In Memoriam Doug Leeds helped build Thomson-Leeds Company into one of the best known in-store agencies in the world. In 1987, the firm was purchased by Ogilvy and under his continued leadership expanded internationally with clients such as Sony, Ford, Microsoft, American Express and Philip Morris. In 1992, Doug led a group of employees and friends to purchase the company back from Ogilvy, which was then part of the WPP Group. Since then the company doubled its revenue and won more awards for creativity and innovation than any company in the point-of-purchase advertising industry. The company joined forces with Array Marketing Group in September 2000 and Doug continued as Chairman of Thomson-Leeds division until he formed The Tori Group in 2004 to pursue his dream of creating an in-store media business. With the purchase of Impact Media in 2005, he created StoreBoard Media LLC. The rest is history. Doug was an active member of the Point of Purchase Advertising Institute (POPAI) last serving as Vice Chair of the Board. In addition, he chaired the trade association’s Annual Conference and Marketplace Show. He was the founder and Chairman of POPAI’s Educational Relations Committee and chaired its Marketing, Strategic Planning and Multi-Services Committees. In 2002 he was inducted into the POPAI Hall of Fame as its youngest member. As one of the industry’s best-known personalities, Doug was a frequent speaker at industry conferences and has published numerous articles in trade journals. He also authored chapters in two of the best-selling college textbooks on sales promotion and merchandising. In recent years he was featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, on CNN’s “Power Lunch” and CNBC’s “Money Watch.” Doug was a graduate and past trustee of Babson College (Wellesley, MA). He was a trustee of The Whitney Museum of American Art, Guild Hall of East Hampton, The Frick Council and The Checkerboard Foundation. He was also a member of The Dream Team at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Vice Chairman of the American Theater Wing (producers of the Tony Awards® for Broadway). |