Our time-tested principles.

Shaped on the anvil of our first century, these beliefs have benefited our clients and community decade after decade. 

Pay Rent  

Co-founder Morris Jacobs was the child of poor, illiterate Lithuanian immigrants. He was gifted with an unrelenting work ethic but also had help along the way. One act of kindness changed him profoundly and cemented his belief in giving back. He was fond of saying, “We must pay rent for the space we occupy on this earth.” And he did, giving his time and energy to numerous charities. Today, we continue to give a designated percentage of agency hours to nonprofits every year.  

Stay Close  

Staying close to the customer means generating a true understanding of what your audience is saying, feeling, and doing at the intersection of their life and your brand. In staying close, we’re able to provide unbiased, honest insight into the person who has the final say in all we do.  

Embrace Change 

As an ad agency that’s been in business for 100 years, we confidently encourage you to embrace every form of change. Be an early adopter of all things culture and technology. Become fluent in the latest and greatest, and then get ready to move on because the astonishing statistic of today has a replacement on the horizon. 

Her name may be Laura, but she is a Jack of all trades, and a master of most of them. To start, she coordinates all of the agency’s new business projects. She also manages all of Bozell’s internal and external communication materials, press releases, website content management and Thinking – Bozell’s quarterly publication. What’s more, she’s the account lead for multiple clients, including College World Series of Omaha, Inc., and H&H Chevrolet/H&H Kia. And she does it all with incredible intelligence, which may have something to do with her MBA from Creighton University.

Spelled backwards, Kerrey’s last name is Nannerb. It sounds like some alien dialect or a baby saying banana. But Kerrey is no baby. In fact Kerrey has a grasp of the English language that you’d normally find in British literature professors. Or James Lipton. Now mix that with incredible intelligence, a great sense of humor and a passion for doing great work, and you have one fine copywriter. So fine, she’s blown the minds of some of the regions biggest clients, including Godfather’s Pizza, Borsheims, Methodist Health Systems and Westlake Ace Hardware. Just don’t ask her to write when there’s a Kansas Jayhawks basketball game on TV.

Do you care madly?

At Bozell, we all work together. No department is more important than another. It’s true integration. Which is why we fill our space with intelligent, motivated people who love to work hard and have fun while doing it. We want people who care about their jobs and care about our clients. People who have a passion for great ideas and a desire to constantly learn. If that’s you, then we want to meet you. Even if we don’t have a position open, please say hello.

Here are some of the things HR (and employees) agree are the perks of working at Bozell:

• Competitive Compensation
• Collaborative Work Environment
• Flexible Work Schedule
• Work/Family Balance
• Generous Benefits
  • Health Insurance
  • STD, LTD and Life Insurance provided
  • Parental Leave
  • 401(k)
  • Paid Vacation, Sick and Personal Time Off
  • Holidays
• Pet-friendly Office
• Employee Development Program

Our People Are Our Biggest Asset.

Knowledge, drive and a relentless appetite for new challenges. That’s what our leadership team has in common here at Bozell. All of our execs are proven experts in their fields, and each is armed with a unique and broad range of experience that gives Bozell its creative edge. Together, and with the help of the talented and skilled team members they lead, these execs are responsible for constructing strategic, omni-channel campaigns that generate serious results for our clients.

100 years. Let’s do that again.

In 1921, no one would have believed a lean startup from Omaha would grow into a global ad agency. Buying back our independence was also completely unexpected. We’ve come full circle, but if past is prologue, we know the next 100 years will be equally exciting. We hope you’ll join us for the ride.

1921
Leo Bozell and Morris Jacobs started the agency while maintaining employment at the Omaha World Herald (we were essentially a side hustle). Leo works by day while Morris works at night, so they share one desk. They didn’t have a phone the first year. 

1940s
MGM filmed Boys Town starring Spencer Tracy as Father Edward J. Flanagan, one of our first clients. Union Pacific, Mutual of Omaha and the College World Series were also on the roster.  

1970s
By 1975, our billings reached $100 million and we were one of the nation’s top 20 ad agencies. Clients included Godfather’s Pizza, American Airlines, Lee Jeans, Greyhound Bus and the National Ad Council.

1980s & 90s
In 1986, we merged with Kenyon & Eckhardt to form Bozell Worldwide – the 14th largest advertising agency in the world. We created the iconic Milk Moustache campaign and “Pork. The other white meat.”

2001
An acquisition by Interpublic Group almost brought our story to a close. Instead, we bought back our independence to maintain the values, culture and priorities we hold dear. From that point on, we’ve had top-tier credentials combined with the heart of an independent firm.

2013
Bozell becomes officially women-owned and is certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). Kim Mickelsen and Robin Donovan were both part of the buy-back in 2001, and Jackie Miller joined the team in 2016. Lots of female power in these walls.

2022
We end an era as Kim Mickelsen and Robin Donovan step down, and a new ownership team takes their place – Jackie Miller, Laura Spaulding and Andrew Spaulding. However, Kim and Robin remain a part of the Bozell team as board members and advisory council.

Today
We remain as optimistic as ever, embracing technological and demographic changes to support our clients and their missions. We’re also challenging ourselves to support those who aspire to change the world. Yes, it’s a bit ambitious, but considering our past, we wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Longevity is not the most remarkable aspect of Bozell.

It’s our culture of care that is, and will be, responsible for everything we do.

To our clients: Care means engaging audiences with messaging that’s on-brand and, most importantly, on-customer. Through research and strategy, we create messaging that not only solves a need, but demonstrates understanding and generates meaningful results. 

To our employees: Caring madly means creating an environment filled with talented, diverse, co-solving, co-striving people who are passionate about our clients’ endeavors, customers and outcomes.  

To our community: We love you. We’re proud to call Omaha our home and give back to the city that has given us so much.  

Our values have helped propel clients through our first 100 years and they will continue  to provide fuel through the next. The new century will need people who care madly  more than ever. And we’re ready to answer the call. 

IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO BILLABLE HOURS.

A massive departure from the conventional agency-client relationship, Bozell has moved beyond billable hours to a more dynamic approach, where ideas are valued over time spent. For years now, we have been better servicing our clients, putting more time and energy toward ideas and business results, rather than tracking and billing every minute spent. The days of the agency of record are over. The future is an agency of value.