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Who

Ron Berger is the CEO of ad agency Euro RSCG Worldwide, a unit of French ad giant Havas. He also dabbles in documentary filmmaking.

Backstory

A Brooklyn native, Berger got his first advertising job thanks to his mother, who worked in the classifieds department at the New York Post. When one of her co-workers left the Post to head up the personnel department at the ad agency Carl Ally, Berger-who was attending the University of Hartford on a basketball scholarship at the time-earned a summer internship in the mailroom. He joined the agency full-time after graduating and remained there for 13 years (long enough to create that catchy "Time To Make The Donuts" campaign for Dunkin' Donuts) until leaving in 1986 to co-found Messner Vetere Berger Carey Schmetterer, which is now a subsidiary of Euro RSCG. In 2001, Berger was tapped to fill his current position leading Euro RSCG's San Francisco and New York offices. But he's also a leader in the broader ad industry: He served as chairman of the Four A's from 2004 to 2006, and chaired Advertising Week in 2007.

Of note

Since 2001, Berger has picked up big accounts like Charles Schwab (Euro RSCG Worldwide was behind its "Talk to Chuck" campaign), Claritin, Verizon Business, and Jaguar, as well as held on to accounts like Air France, Pfizer, Nestle, and Volvo. But he's had his share of challenges, too: In recent years, he's overseen the complicated task of consolidating Euro's West Coast subsidiaries. And he also generated controversy with a blistering speech at the 2006 Four A's, where he called out everyone from Sir Martin Sorrell (for not supporting the industry) to the trade press (for not understanding the business).

On the side

Berger has been friends with publicist Dan Klores since they were kids-they both grew up in Sheepshead Bay-and the pair has co-directed two documentaries, The Boys of 2nd Street Park and Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story, both of which debuted at Sundance.

Personal

Berger lives with his wife Karen in Wayne, NJ. Both of his sons have followed their father into the ad game. Ryan works for Paul Malmstrom at Euro RSCG, while Cory works for Linus Karlsson at hot shop Mother.