Bant Breen

Chief Creative Officer

Initiative, IPG

What are you reading right now?
American Insurgents, American Patriots by T.H. Breen. It’s my Dad’s latest book, which came out in June 2010. Please buy it. ;)

What person has been the biggest influence on your career?
Nick Brien, CEO of McCann Worldgroup. Always inspiring and action-oriented.

If you could have lunch with one person,  living or dead, who would it be?
Giuseppe Garibaldi: “Libertá non tradisce I volenti.” (“Liberty does not fail those who are determined to have it.”) I wrote a dissertation about him back in college and remain a fan.

What brand do you admire the most, past or present?
Zappos, because they embrace the idea of a conversational brand and an open-company model.

What’s your go-to late night snack?
Manchego and jamón serrano. I’m married to a Spaniard and she has me hooked on all the foods of Spain.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
My kids seem to like it when I become Burrito Man with the amazing ability to roll up his enemies in burrito-like duvet covers. Comic-con, here comes Burrito Man.

What is your favorite quote?
“You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one.”
~ John Wooden, famous American basketball coach.

Bant Breen is President of Initiative’s worldwide digital communications operations and a leader in all things digital for IPG’s Mediabrands. He played a key role in building IPG’s digital communications services.

Before joining Initiative, Bant served as the Executive Director of the IPG Emerging Media Lab, spearheaded IPG’s acquisition of Reprise, created IPG’s mobile agency, Ansible, and led Universal McCann’s global digital communications offering. Recently, Bant launched Initiative’s worldwide social media services unit, Prophesee.

Before joining Interpublic, Bant was the founder and president of a strategic marketing and communications consultancy affiliated with Dentsu Inc. Prior to that, he spent five years at Leo Burnett Worldwide. Bant started his career as a WPP Fellow.

Bant has worked and lived in Asia Pacific, Europe and the U.S. He now lives in New York City with his wife, Carmen, and two boys, Alejandro and Nico.