Carmichael Lynch merges with Tierney

Minneapolis-based Carmichael Lynch is growing by absorbing fellow Interpublic Group of Cos. agency Tierney Communications. Tierney will become part of the Carmichael Lynch brand as of May 1.

Tierney, headquartered in Philadelphia with offices in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and New York, had 100 employees. Carmichael Lynch will now have 375 employees. Five employees were let go as part of the combination, a spokeswoman for the agency confirmed.

Mary Stengel Austen, co-founder and CEO of Tierney, is stepping down on March 31. Tracey Santilli, who was appointed president of Tierney in 2022, will continue in that role and report to Carmichael Lynch CEO Marcus Fischer.

Some of Tierney’s clients include Independence Blue Cross, Cencora, Comcast, McDonald’s, Choice Hotels and TD Bank. Some of Carmichael Lynch’s key clients include Subaru, Hostess Brands, Bush’s Beans, Post Consumer Brands, and Saputo.

Both IPG shops had disciplines in analytics, strategy, creative, media, social, production and PR. Tierney’s crisis and issues management specialty will be added to Carmichael Lynch’s PR services.

FCB Chicago’s new chief creative officer

In other IPG agency news, FCB Chicago has appointed Pedro Pérez as its chief creative officer. He held the same role at Dentsu Creative’s Chicago office since 2022.

As CCO of FCB’s largest office, Pérez will be partnering with FCB Chicago CEO Kelly Graves and FCB Chicago Chief Strategy Officer Mollie Partesotti, the agency said. Pérez’s predecessor Andrés Ordóñez was recently appointed global chief creative officer of FCB.

Julie Scelzo, global chief creative officer for Dentsu Creative, will add chief creative officer duties for the Chicago office. Dentsu is looking to create more “connectivity” between the offices, a spokeswoman said.

BBH USA’s first campaign for Quest

Nutrition brand Quest’s first campaign from its newly appointed creative agency of record BBH USA is out. “It’s Basically Cheating” includes TV spots running now through March Madness. The ad features actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani in different fitness scenarios explaining that there is such a thing as “good” cheating because Quest snacks taste good and are good for you.

'Avatar: The Last Airbender' in the real world

Netflix launched a live-action version of the cult animated TV show “Avatar: The Last Airbender” in February. To promote the show, which is known for unique characters and animals, it teamed with New York-based agency SuperHeros to create CGI social media videos that show “Appa,” a flying bison character from the show, in different real-life cities. One video shows him taking a nap on a California highway, stopping traffic, and another shows him taking off from a New York building.

On TikTok, the videos garnered 8.5 million views in the first 24 hours and nearly 80 million in a week.

The work was created by SuperHero’s studio, called the Jimmy Collective, and one of its digital artists, @Shutterauthority.

L&C’s first CEO

L&C has appointed its first-ever CEO. Former Barbarian Global CEO Steven Moy is taking on the role after working at the Cheil Worldwide digital agency for five years. Prior to his time at Barbarian, Moy held positions as U.S. chief technology officer of R/GA, CEO of Isobar UK, and managing director of Publicis.Sapient.

This is another significant move for the small agency, which made a big splash with its work for Dole and sold a minority stake to Serviceplan in June.

Just briefly

McCann New York has appointed new managing partners, and newly created roles for the agency. Ken Mulligan, previously a global client lead at Wunderman Thompson, and Rebecca Kluin, an executive VP, executive account director at McCann, will help manage clients for the team and work alongside Nikki Maizel, McCann New York’s head of business leadership and managing partner.

The 4As has appointed Cathy Chan Butler, previously the CEO of Organic, as its new executive VP of talent, equity, and learning solutions. She replaces Tahlisha Williams, who is no longer with the organization.

There’s a new agency in the Windy City and it’s operating on a four-day week schedule. Mandi Bright, a former VP, creative director at The Mars Agency and FCB Chicago, and Holly Willis, former head of accounts at Chicago's Escape Pod, launched Magic Camp.

Horizon Canada has appointed Robert Jenkyn as its new president. He replaces Kevin Kivi, who is departing to “return home to Australia driven by a desire to be closer to his immediate family,” according to a statement by Horizon. Jenkyn was previously CEO of Canadian media agency Media Experts.