Former FCB strategy chief and Publicis UK boss, Nigel Jones, dies

Source: © Little Black Book Little Black Book

To recognise Jones' life and legacy, FCB will be creating a special award in his honour.

Reported in CampaignLiveUK, the publication cites a joint message to FCB staff, from Susan Credle, global chair and global chief creative officer, and Tyler Turnbull, the global chief executive, in which they describe Jones as an “advertising industry legend”, “dear friend” and “a remarkably special human” whose “sage advice and wise counsel helped us weather many storms”.

The message says, “He played a critical role in delivering our shared ambition of restoring FCB’s creative reputation and ambition to become the number one creative agency network in the world, a role for which this agency owes him eternal gratitude.”

CampaignLiveUK reports that during his most recent tenure at FCB, Jones is credited with shaping the agency’s core values and creative output (in Warc’s 2023 rankings, it was named the number one creative agency and top performer for creative effectiveness).

Jones was FCB’s global chief strategy officer for almost 10 years. Prior to that, form 2005 – 2008, he was DraftFCB's London office president.

For over five years, between his positions at FCB, he was the UK group chairman and chief executive at Publicis Groupe.

Jones studied maths at Oxford University, graduating in 1984 to start his advertising career at DDB London, where he rose to become its head of account planning.