The objective was to create an engaging, engrossing 78th anniversary event that would encourage participation not just in Chicago but across all Leo Burnett offices worldwide. It needed a strong overriding theme to reflect the historical significance of Leo Burnett’s culture of creativity.

The phrase “78LB” brought to mind “78LP”– and a concept was born -- about how great ideas rise to the top, no matter the medium. To bring this to life, we pressed an actual 78 RPM record, featuring two rare Chicago recordings unearthed by record label the Numero Group. For the day’s activities, we chose to commemorate Leo Burnett’s lengthy presence in the Chicago creative community by inviting local artists of all disciplines to partner with us. In keeping with our theme, 60 one-of-a-kind invitations were hand-painted onto actual 78 RPM records and delivered to a shortlist of our respective artists.

The event was featured in blogs and created several unique impressions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Vine. On the morning of the Anniversary, the “78LB” record was distributed to every Leo Burnett employee. To complement the two-track vinyl pressing -- and to deepen the experience for those without 78RPM turntables -- Leo Burnett released 78,000 digital downloads of 15 archival Chicago recordings provided through the Numero Group. These were then released to the general public to commemorate this significant day. Reactions from Leo Burnett offices around the world were overwhelmingly positive, and each celebrated in their own unique way.