BBDO announced today that Allen Rosenshine, Chairman of BBDO Worldwide, will retire at the end of December, ending a remarkable 44-year career that earned him a place on Advertising Age’s list of the "hundred most influential people in advertising over the past century."

It was Rosenshine who spearheaded the "big bang" in 1986 -the creation of Omnicom which today ranks as the largest and most successful marketing communications company in the world, and he heled build BBDO into one of the most creative networks in the world. Just last week finished first in the Gunn report as the most awarded agency network in the world for the fourth time - twice as often as any other network.

"I'm very happy that my last, and in many ways, most important decision as CEO – choosing Andrew Robertson to lead BBDO in the new century – has obviously turned out extremely well," Rosenshine said. "BBDO continues to grow, its creative heritage is flourishing in both traditional and new media, and there is little left that I can contribute, all of which is exactly as it should be. I'm delighted to have worked my way out quietly."