McCann Worldgroup Creative Chairman Rob Reilly is leaving his post with the Interpublic Group of Cos. network after seven years to become the global chief creative officer for all of WPP, reporting to CEO Mark Read.
WPP said in an announcement that Reilly will partner with Read and the CEOs and chief creative officers of its individual agencies to "champion creativity within and beyond the company, fostering a culture that delivers extraordinary work to clients. He is also tasked with attracting and nurturing the best creative talent, driving inclusion and diversity in creative work and teams, and working with technology partners to fuel the creativity needed for their platforms," WPP said.
“Mark’s ambition is to make WPP the most creative company on the planet,” Reilly said in a statement. “For a creative person, that was impossible to resist. He is leading a complete reinvention of WPP and is committed to putting creativity at the center of everything the company does. I look forward to joining the talented team of people at WPP and helping its fantastic agencies continue to build on their success.”
Read added Reilly is "a transformative creative force wherever he has applied his considerable talent, and I know he will have the same impact at WPP. I am delighted that Rob is joining us as we look to make WPP synonymous with the world’s most creative, most effective and most forward-looking work – and at a time when this has never been more important to our clients," he said.
Reilly has been with McCann for the past seven years, having joined in 2014. WPP credited Reilly with leading a "creative resurgence" at McCann, "overseeing highly-awarded work that has shaped culture in the wider world, including the 'Fearless Girl' statue on Wall Street for State Street Global Advisors. McCann was also named Network of the Year at the 2019 Cannes International Festival of Creativity," the company said.
“After seven very successful years at McCann Worldgroup, Rob has decided to move on to the next chapter of his career, unfortunately with a competitor," MCCann Worldgroup Chairman-CEO Bill Kolb said in a statement. "Rob has helped build an incredible bench of creative leadership across each one of our agency brands and contributed so much to our creative success. I thank him for his countless contributions and wish him all the best in his new role.”
In an internal memo, Kolb also praised Reilly with helping "elevate our creative work and reputation to new levels. Led by his insistence on the power of creativity, our network has become the most awarded and most recognized at every one of the most important creative and effectiveness awards shows in the industry for the last five years running," he said.
Kolb also said Reilly would continue on at McCann "for several more weeks as part of his transition."
Before McCann, Reilly led Crispin Porter + Bogusky as worldwide chief creative officer for 10 years.
