Debbi Vandeven has been in the advertising game for a long time – and it runs in the family. Her husband Jeff and her two daughters, Hallie and Kylie, are in business. Vandeven has always been creative, growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, she dreamed of becoming an artist before being fortuitously introduced to a creative director by a friend.
In 1987, she got a scholarship to the University of Kansas to study fine arts, where, obsessed with design, the young Vandeven enjoyed classes in illustration, graphics and visual communication. Knowing that business acumen would be just as important as creative nous, she followed this up with the marketing and advertising course at Webster University in 1996.
“If you’re going to work in advertising, you’re not just an artist that is working on art,” she says. “The understanding of the business is extremely important.”
She started at VML in 2000 at the Missouri shop, which, at that time, had around 130 employees. (Vandeven reckons she was the 130th person they employed). The first account she worked on at the agency was Colgate-Palmolive. “Believe it or not,” she adds. “It is still one of our largest accounts all these years later!”
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During those initial years at the shop, Vandeven recalls that they didn’t have laptops, only Mac towers, so you were tied to the office all of the time, but the atmosphere was “so fun,” she adds.
Over the next five years, she had her children. “They literally grew up in the business because I would have to work. They would be here on weekends. You just got used to it. As a parent, you bring in stuff for your kids to play with or have them watch TV while you’re working on work. It’s such a different way to think about life.”
To this day, the VML office in Kansas City is still in the same location, which is on the site of an old, but still in use, airport. The runways are right behind the agency’s windows, which Vandeven says is pretty exciting as a lot of celebrities, bands and sports teams with private planes use it.
“At first, I had a desk that I swear was in a hallway,” she laughs. “I would be working and people would come up behind me as I was designing something and go, ‘Oh, I think I like that one.’ Everyone had to comment on the work as they walked by.”
Now, 25 years later and she is VML’s global chief creative officer, leading teams around the world and wracking up countless industry awards. In The Drum's World Creative Rankings, we have revealed that she is the second-most awarded chief creative officer in the world.
“I’m honored,” she said of the accolade. “But mostly, it makes me feel grateful to have such an amazing creative team and brave clients working with me every day. I could never have achieved this type of recognition without their partnership and desire to relentlessly pursue big, human-first ideas.”
For the third year in a row, women have topped the list, with Vandeven continuously battling it out with Ogilvy’s Liz Taylor for the top spot (Taylor nudged in front this year). This may indicate a positive shift for the advertising industry, which is full to the brim with male creatives, but there’s still a long way to go in achieving the level of diversity that is needed.
“It’s always wonderful to see more women achieving success in our industry and I hope we can continue to influence a more diverse group of creative leaders in the future,” explains Vandeven. “Having every manner of diversity of thinking at the table is extremely important when you’re trying to solve complex problems. That way, everyone is approaching it from their unique perspective – and that’s the best way to uncover those great ideas.”
Vandeven’s favorite projects over the year include Wendy’s ‘Fortnight’ because it allowed her to do work “that challenged category definitions and forged a new path” and, in typical Wendy’s fashion, it “didn’t behave like a brand, but more like a person on the platform.”
Meanwhile, ‘I Will Always Be Me’ for Intel/Dell is another standout. “It’s so wonderful when you can work with major brands to uncover unique ways to truly put people at the center of the solution and improve their lives,” she explains.
Not wanting to take too much credit, the creative leader keeps coming back to the point that making award-winning work is all about building a great team around you. “One that trusts and supports each other – from strategy to creative to business partners,” she continues. “It’s only in an environment of trust and support that you’re able to create the very best work.”
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