Robin Shapiro

Robin Shapiro has been an unstoppable creative force since she entered the industry. In her 35 years with Omnicom, she grew from a copywriter at Corbett Accel into its Chief Creative Officer to eventually leading TBWA\WorldHealth as its CEO. During her leadership, Robin brought decades of disruptive creative thinking to the world’s most ambitious healthcare brands. She launched over 30 global brands, for companies ranging from start-ups like Moderna and Intra-Cellular Therapies, to pharma giants, such as AstraZeneca, Bayer, Pfizer, and Merck. She’s helped myriad clients crystallize their vision to bring their brand’s story to the world. With her impeccable eye for talent, Robin has served as Cannes Lions Pharma Jury President. She also Chaired the Global Awards, where she created innovative programs like Young Globals, to bring up the next generation of creative leaders. Dedicated as much to her community as she is to her industry, Robin volunteers as a mentor with Waukegan to College—an organization that helps high school students realize their dream of attending a university. Robin has a wonderful husband, 3 incredible kids, and an unusually strong appreciation for the band Cheap Trick.

As a copywriter, Robin’s attitude was that there was nothing so humble that she couldn’t make feel important. Starting with work on the National Livestock and Meat Board, she brought glory to pork as “the other white meat.” She brought forward Abilify’s iconic “big A,” challenging established leader Zyprexa. She developed groundbreaking campaigns that destigmatized schizophrenia, with a fresh, humanistic approach to patient portrayal that engendered respect for the community. As a leader, Robin devised a proprietary framework to consistently enable great creative: SPARK. Bringing together client stakeholders and creatives in an intensive concepting experience, the output was bold, insight-driven, emotional work. Through SPARK, she created worlds that brands like Harvoni, Sovaldi, Epclusa could own. More than inspiring great work, Robin ignited great leaders. Through her IDEA PHARM, students came from all disciplines to learn conceptual thinking. They graduated with creative portfolios, which they could use to apply for creative roles within the agency. Robin has been a powerful SPARK for creative in our industry. After 35 years of sharing her work, her influence, her inspiration, Robin is one of our brightest creative luminaries.