VML Elevates Debbi Vandeven to Global President

VML has handed Debbi Vandeven, its global chief creative officer, a second title: global president. She keeps the CCO role and starts the expanded job in January 2027, reporting to incoming global CEO Eric Campbell.

The numbers explain why. Under Vandeven's creative leadership, VML has collected more than 500 Cannes Lions, including 10 Grand Prix. In 2026, the Cannes Lions Creativity Rankings ranked VML the No. 2 global creative network worldwide, and ranked Vandeven herself the No. 1 CCO globally at both Cannes Lions and The One Club. Add three consecutive years on Ad Age's Agency A-List, Campaign's Global Agency Network of the Year in 2026, and a Fast Company Best Workplaces for Innovators nod, and you have a trophy cabinet doing double duty as a pitch deck.

This is the first major leadership move by Campbell, who succeeds Jon Cook as global CEO. The structure matters: Vandeven will unite the agency's creative, technology and global business leadership in one role — creative and P&L thinking merged at the top rather than separated by a floor.

What does the appointment change for clients?

On paper, plenty. Vandeven's remit covers business growth across more than 55 markets, with a stated focus on world-class creative, customer experience and commerce, aimed at building what the agency calls "connected brands." She's also been central to VML's recent new business run — Heineken, Kenvue, Natura and Pernod Ricard among the wins — while deepening relationships with existing clients such as Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company and Wendy's. For those clients, the bet is that the person shaping the work also shapes how the network is run.

Campbell made the trust argument directly. "Debbi and I have been partnering at VML for more than two decades, and there is no one I trust more to take this role," he said. "Our clients rely on her, our people follow her, and her work has defined the creative excellence VML is known for around the world."

He also framed the promotion as a signal, not just a personnel move: "Elevating Debbi to global president tells everyone exactly where we're headed: an even sharper focus on creativity and growth for our clients, built on the culture and ambition that got us here."

A dual-hatted structure

Vandeven has spent more than 25 years as what the agency calls the architect of its creative rise — a span covering the growth and recognition the network now trades on. Her own reading of the promotion leans on the merger of disciplines.

"VML has shown that combining human insight with transformative technology has the greatest power to drive business growth," Vandeven said. "We are truly at our best when creativity and business leadership move as one. I'm honoured to take on this role alongside Eric as we continue VML's momentum and ensure every client feels the full strength of our Human First guiding philosophy."

Outgoing CEO Jon Cook, her partner across those two and a half decades, offered the warmest send-off in the announcement. "She makes the work better, she makes the people around her better, and she does it with more heart than anyone I know," Cook said. "She's built a creative culture where people feel seen, celebrated and pushed to do the best work of their lives. With Eric and Debbi at the helm, VML is in exactly the right hands for its next chapter."

Take that as you will — outgoing CEOs rarely announce that the hands are the wrong ones. Still, the substance is real: a top-ranked CCO now controls both the work and the business across a 55-market network, effective January 2027.