Sherwin Leff has spent over 45 years working on brand strategy and agency account management. After business school, Sherwin began his marketing and advertising career as an assistant brand manager at Alberto Culver (now Unilever, Inc.), managing such brands as Alberto VO5, the Tresemme line of hair care products, and a variety of consumer health and beauty aid brands. While at Alberto Culver he managed the Chicago sales force. He left the company as a group product manager.
Leff next entered the advertising agency world at NH&S (now DDB Worldwide), where he managed such brands as Edge Protective Shave. He then moved to the agencies largest account, McDonald's. He then moved over to McDonald’s national sales promotional agency Abelson Frankel (now ARC Worldwide/Leo Burnett), to run the entire McDonald’s account. Sherwin was responsible for developing "Twoallbeefpattiesspecialsaucelettucecheesepicklesonionsonasesammeseedbun" and the most successful sales promotion in McDonald’s history, “When the US Wins, you Win”. This promotion that ran for four Olympic games. Ad Age called this promotion the largest most successful consumer promotion in history!
Leff than started his own agency, Marcus/Leff, a creative boutique with clients such as McDonald’s, Kraft, Liggett Group and many other national brands.
Finally, Sherwin Joined FCB Chicago where he spent 30 years. For the first 15 years he ran IMPACT, the agency’s sales promotion agency, which he built into one of the largest in the nation. Leff won and managed such clients as Pizza Hut, Wendy’s, at&t, Kraft and SC Johnson. In his last 15 years at FCB Sherwin ran global IMC for the agency’s largest client, SC Johnson.
Since retiring in 2012, Leff has continued to teach at Columbia College Chicago and DePaul University. He also maintains an active consulting practice, having consulted for such clients as Quad Graphics and Alliance Data Systems (both NYSE companies), and Northwestern Medicine.
Leff earned a BSBA from Roosevelt University and an MBA from DePaul University. He is married and lives in Glenview, Illinois.