Brooke Gilbertson, EVP, Client Operations joined Publicis Groupe 25 years ago, starting her career at Starcom, one of PHM’s sister agencies, in their Chicago office. Since then, Brooke has built a storied career at Publicis Groupe, coming to PHM with a breadth of experience across industries. We sat down with Brooke to reflect on the past 25 years, get an inside look into what’s changed (and what hasn’t) in the world of advertising and how she continues to embrace new challenges.
25 years is an amazing accomplishment! What has kept you at Publicis for this long?
It’s all very cliché but my answer has to be the people. The leaders I’ve worked for and the teams I’ve worked with are the reason I’ve stayed as long as I have. Over these past 25 years, I’ve worked across both the Chicago and New York markets and have been trusted with taking on new and challenging opportunities that have kept me engaged and constantly learning. That trust from leadership and having the opportunity to foster my own growth has been really pivotal to the culture from the time I started at Publicis.
Can you walk us through the journey of the past 25 years?
I started my career at Starcom in Chicago as a media buyer, purchasing local radio and TV. Then, I rotated to Strategy before leaving for a brief hiatus to a role outside of Groupe, quickly boomeranging back to Starcom as a Strategy Supervisor on a Technology B2B account.
After several years and rotations across various clients, I transitioned into a newly created role within a function called Global Operations. In 2008, this capability was unique to my account and not established across our clients and agencies. A few years later, the Client Operations capability is now the norm, with all Publicis Media agencies having this function.
It was exciting to be a pioneer of sorts in that department and have the opportunity to build something from the ground up. I loved the challenge of the Client Operations role, since it combined experience from my traditional media background (across both buying and planning) with my interest and acumen for the financial side of the business.
Since then, I have continued to build my career within Client Operations, including time at Zenith and now at PHM.
What’s changed in the world of media in the past 25 years? What hasn’t?
It’s a completely different world. When I started in the industry, you were either a media planner or a media buyer. Now, we have many different capabilities focused on so many parts of the business. I remember sending make-goods to TV and radio stations using the fax machine! Now, we communicate via laptops, phones and many other modes of communication.
What hasn’t changed is that the media landscape continues to evolve, becoming increasingly complex and fragmented, alongside advancements in technology that have transformed how we work and accelerated the pace at which everything gets done.
At PHM, we often ask people why they chose health. What made you choose health when you joined PHM?
I’ve just been at PHM for a little over a year, but during my time at Starcom, I was exposed to PHM through some of our Power of One accounts. When I got the opportunity to work at PHM in this new role, I was super excited to work with some of the people I had partnered with through our previous work.
My day-to-day work in Client Operations is similar across industries and categories, but I love what the health industry stands for in terms of giving consumers the power of education. Health as an advertising category is so powerful and can make a real impact with consumers. We are increasing public awareness and helping drive consumers to be advocates for themselves and their families, which is so important. It’s a completely different lens to the work.
When you reflect on your 25 years at Publicis, what are you most proud of?
What I’m most proud of are the individuals I’ve mentored and coached throughout my journey. Watching them evolve into strong leaders and excel in their roles has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my career. I love hearing them reference things we learned or lessons I was able to teach them throughout our time working together.
There’s nothing more rewarding than being able to guide the next generation of leaders. I always say to them, “I can’t wait to work for you one day. Sign me up!”
Any fun or notable memories from the past 25 years you’d like to share?
So many! Some of my favorite memories are from holiday parties back in the day (the Leo Burnett Breakfast – IYKYK), traveling to some amazing places while working on a Global account (London, Singapore, Shanghai and Brazil) and having my picture featured in the Wall Street Journal (the actual paper!) for a new ad format they were promoting. One of my recent highlights was attending BravoCon (our client was a sponsor). You never know where working in media will take you.
What are you looking forward to in the next 5 years?
I’m looking forward to seeing how PHM continues to evolve. The industry is constantly changing, and it’s a really interesting time to be in health marketing. I can’t wait to see what’s next and what new challenges will come from these innovations. The only constant is change!
Connect with Brooke on LinkedIn.
For the latest news and updates, follow PHM on Instagram and LinkedIn
Questions? Thoughts? Ideas? Contact us.
