Gill C. Duff, CEO of Publicis New York, the flagship office of Publicis USA, is the 1998 winner of the Donald G. Hileman Distinguished Alumni Award.
Before joining Publicis, Gill was at BBDO where he led efforts for one of the most prestigious and creative clients in the industry - Fed Ex - as Worldwide Senior Account Director.
In this role, he was responsible for the development of the highly successful "Relax, it's Fed Ex" campaign, which received critical acclaim winning a Cannes Gold Lion, three One Show Pencils (including one Gold) and five New York ADDY awards. One of the spots was named a finalist for "Best of Show" in the National ADDY Awards.
Gill has held senior account management positions with top tier agencies including Young & Rubicam, D'Arcy, Leo Burnett and Foote Cone & Belding. His category experience includes beer and distilled spirits, packaged goods, beverages, telecom, B2B and multi-unit retailing. Along the way, he has helped build and grow several national and global brands from a wide range of companies including Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Kraft, Miller Brewing, Coca-Cola Company, Molson Breweries, Blockbuster and Heinz.
In 1998, Duff tapped into his entrepreneurial skills when he relocated from New York to his hometown of Nashville for family reasons. During that time, he gained valuable and highly relevant experience running his own agency, in partnership with Knoxville's Charlie Tombras (another UT grad) until 2003.
Gill graduated from the University of Tennessee's College of Communications in 1983. He is also a graduate of the American Association of Advertising Agencies' (AAAA) Executive Leadership Program.
He sits on the Board of Directors of New York's Advertising Week and the Advertising Educational Foundation as well as is a member of the AAAA's New York Council Board of Governors. He is a regular final round judge of the American Marketing Association's EFFIE Awards for marketing and advertising effectiveness.