2023 Inductee

Judy John

Creative Leader

With her impactful, culture-shifting work and a slew of firsts in the industry, Judy John has carved out a singular path. John was the driving force behind the Always “Like a Girl” campaign, recasting the derogatory phrase as a compliment and racking up awards including an Emmy, Black Pencil at D&AD, and Grand Prix and Glass Lion at Cannes.

But her accomplishments go beyond the creative realm, as she also took on the CEO reins at a multinational while simultaneously leading creative teams in two countries, holding the dual remit of CEO for Canada and CCO for North America at Leo Burnett. In 2019, she was hired as the first ever Global CCO at Edelman, the position she currently holds. This is just a sampling of the accolades she’s accumulated, with more likely to come.

“Judy broke down barriers based on her work ethic and her principles, and her ability to get her team going in the right direction in service of the right things. Good things followed for her and for the industry,” says David Moore, who recommended she take his position as CEO when he was at Leo Burnett, and is now Advisory Board chairman for Jackman Reinvents. “It wasn’t good enough to be a branch plant and work on Canadian stuff. She wanted visibility for us, for our agency, for the creative community both at Leo Burnett and in Canada to have exposure and opportunity on the global stage.”

John has brought that same mindset to Edelman. “At Leo Burnett, we wanted to be number one in the country, top ten in the world; we got to number five in the world, according to Ad Age,” says John. “When I joined Edelman, I said, ‘We’re going to win an Oscar.’ I’ve put it
out in the ether. I have audacious goals.”

Now in her fourth year at Edelman, John likes how things are progressing. In the past couple of years, Edelman won the Grand Prix in Entertainment for Sports and Independent Agency of the Year for the Entertainment Track at the Cannes Lions Festival for Creativity; and Edelman was named Independent Agency of the Year for the Good Track. The New York and London offices have each made Contagious Magazine’s top ten list of Pioneers. “We’re showing up where people aren’t expecting us to show up,” she says. “We’re winning types of business that we haven’t
won in the past. That’s incredibly satisfying.”

John grew up working from a young age at her parents’ Chinese restaurant in Leamington, Ontario, the place and people she credits for her work ethic. She studied film and theatre at Brock University in St. Catharines before switching to copywriting at Centennial College in Toronto. After school, she worked at globally-lauded creative agencies, including Taxi and Ogilvy & Mather.

John was one of Nancy Vonk’s and Janet Kestin’s first hires when they
were co-CCOs at Ogilvy & Mather.

Vonk and Kestin now run Swim, the creative leadership consultancy they co-founded, and together, they were inducted into last year’s Hall of Fame. “The #LikeAGirl campaign made a global, indelible mark, but Judy was behind such a tidal wave of outstanding work from the very start of her career,” says Vonk, citing the Zellers “Victor Newman” campaign, the Lovecraft “Chicken” TV spot and the IKEA “Cook This Page” ad. “The common thread across all her work is how smart, funny, fresh and strategic it is. And so often, she finds a way to reframe a brand, giving
people a new reason to make that choice.”

John joined Leo Burnett in 1999. In the earlier days of working together, Moore recalls John returning from a trip to the company’s Tokyo office, inspired by the revelation that the CCO and CEO shared the same office – the idea being that the creative leader worked in tandem with the direction of the agency. Back at the office, John pitched the CEO at the time to share his office, but was turned down. In search of the next best option, she approached Moore, then the managing director, and they went on to share an office for ten years. Moore recalls hanging up after difficult client calls, and John would immediately ask him what her team could do to help.

Eventually, Moore, as CEO, would propose John take his coveted position.

“In the early days, she had just a bursting vision of where the agency could go,” he says. “She is fearless. She would run to the fire if there was smoke anywhere, if it didn’t feel right or sound right. She conducts herself in service of the work, with no ego, no
politics. The quality of work is paramount.”

John initially rejected the idea of taking on the CEO role at Leo Burnett but Moore convinced her that it would allow her to maintain her vision, instead of having a new CEO set the course, and that the role could be restructured to suit her strengths and skill set.

She spent 20 years at Leo Burnett, before joining Edelman. She was swayed to join the company over breakfast with CEO Richard Edelman, who spoke about the future of Edelman and PR: creativity could help solve business problems and inspire clients to shape culture and
transform society. John was in.

So, what’s the secret sauce to making a brand stand out? “We talk a lot about trust, building trust with all stakeholders,” she says. “But I’m also talking a lot about relevance. Are you relevant in people’s lives? Are you relevant in culture? I’m talking about relevance as a brand, as an icon
in people’s minds, and how you maintain that.”

A key driver for John is to create work that is meaningful or motivating, to help companies shape society for the better in the face of AI and other challenges. “There will always be the need for creativity, and the need for creativity to drive commerce,” she says. “We have to show our value as problem-solvers, innovators, entertainers, business-drivers, people-inspirers. That’s the point.”