Dan Yessian, award-winning musician, composer and founder of the music, sound design and soundscapes production company Yessian which started in Farmington Hills, Mich., was inducted into the Adcraft Hall of Fame last month at The Madison Building in Detroit. Yessian was recognized for his remarkable career, spanning almost 50 years, and his contributions to the advertising industry locally and across the globe.
“Dan is an amazing ambassador for the advertising community in Detroit,” said Michelle Rossow, executive director of Adcraft, the oldest advertising association in the U.S. “He is like our city—hardworking, humble and creative at his core. In addition to building a company with an impressive local client roster, Yessian also gives the Detroit advertising industry a global footprint.”
Founded in 1971, the company has clients which include some of world’s best-known brands in advertising, film, television, gaming and theme parks such as Ford, RAM, Toyota, Disney, Budweiser, Macy’s, United Airlines, Walmart, Coca Cola, IKEA, Mont Blanc, L’Oreal, McDonald’s, Volvo and Porsche. Yessian himself composed numerous iconic local and national advertising campaign jingles, including “Dittrich Furs by the Dittrich Family,” “Dodge Boys Have More Fun,” and Whirlpool’s “We’re making your life a little easier.”
Yessian and his two sons, Brian and Michael, who became his partners in the mid-1990s, have grown the company into a worldwide collective of producers, composers, music supervisors and research creatives and recording artists. Yessian the company, with satellite offices in New York, Los Angeles and Hamburg, Germany, also has a music licensing and research division of indie bands and well-known artists called Dragon Lick.
Changes Afoot For Cannes Lions 2025, Including Increasing Festival Access For Underserved Communities
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is putting plans in motion for its 72nd edition, set to take place from June 16-20, 2025 in Cannes, France. The Festival has announced that it will double funding to provide €2m (some $2,150,000) worth of complimentary passes to underrepresented talent and underserved communities through its Equity, Representation and Accessibility (ERA) Pass, returning for a second year.
Frank Starling, chief DEI officer, Lions, said the increased investment was “crucial to continue to drive progress for both Cannes Lions and the industry.” Starling added, “The ERA pass plays an important role in fostering a global representation of talent within the creative communications industry at Cannes Lions, and to date our funded opportunities have reached creatives in 46 countries globally. With the Festival being the destination for everyone in the business of creativity, we recognize the importance of creating equitable access to it, and this is why we’re prioritizing increased representation from the Global South to support a greater range of voices and perspectives from the region at the Festival.” Applications for the ERA pass are open now and close on December 5, 2025. More details can be found here.
With submissions into the Cannes Lions Awards opening on January 16, 2025, innovations to the Awards have also been announced today. Glass: The Lion for Change celebrates 10 years since its introduction. The Glass Lion was launched to champion work that used creativity to drive a shift towards more positive, progressive and gender-aware communication, and Marian Brannelly, global... Read More