Chairman Emeritus, Young & Rubicam Inc. (Y&R)
Edward N. Ney, CEO of Young & Rubicam Inc. from 1970 to 1985, understood not only that his clients wanted great creative consumer advertising, but that they were coming into an era in which they needed many other skills as well, including public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing, health-services advertising and design work. By building an agency that integrated all these services in the United States and internationally, Ney created an organization about which a competitor said, “They aren’t living on past reputation at Young & Rubicam; they are adding to an established reputation.”
According to Advertising Age, “Ney’s charter for Young & Rubicam changed the shape of the agency business.” And for nine years, when U.S. News and World Report surveyed people in advertising asking them who was the most influential person in the field, Ed Ney was the answer seven of those times.
But Ney’s contribution to the industry was not limited to Young & Rubicam. He was chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies and of the Advertising Council. As an indicator of his commitment to pro-bono work, when Y&R celebrated its 60th anniversary they did it without parties and gifts but by having each office add an extra public service account to the ones they were already doing. In the public service area, Ney was a member of the Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty Board and of the Commission on National Elections and the U.S. Ambassador to Canada (1989-1992).
He is also a member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Advisory Board, The Museum of Broadcasting TV and Radio, Council on Foreign Relations and a Life Trustee of Amherst College.
