The global chief creative officer for DDB’s McDonald’s account, Luis Miguel Messianu, is departing that role more than a year after taking on the newly created position as he starts an independent multicultural creative consultancy called Included.

Messianu, who is also chairman of DDB-owned Alma, will retain that role.

Messianu said he came to the realization that he prefers being an entrepreneur rather than the “typical corporate life.” 

“What I really enjoy is building things from scratch, building a culture, building a company, just like I did with Alma,” said Messianu, who founded the agency, then known as del Rivero Messianu, in 1994. It was acquired by DDB in 2001.

“My personal mission has always been to help elevate and dignify the presence of Latinos in the U.S.," he added.

DDB didn’t immediately respond to questions regarding how Messianu’s McDonald’s account role will be filled.

Last year, when taking on the McDonald’s account role, Messianu said he aimed to make the Golden Arches advertiser of the year at Cannes within two to three years. “McDonald's has to be the brand that every creative wants to work on,” Messianu said in April 2022. “That’s what it was when I started the business.”

Messianu said he would split his time with Alma, consult for the agency and help with key clients such as McDonald’s, which is Alma’s largest, according to Messianu. However, a majority of his time will be spent working on Included.

‘Very nimble, very flexible’

“This opportunity will allow me to also pursue different kinds of projects and campaigns than Alma, which is already a big ship with overhead and a big payroll,” Messianu said. “I'm going to be very nimble, very flexible, so I can go for startups, I can go for different kinds of companies.”

Messainu will also remain part of DDB Latina’s executive committee and the Creative Bullseye system, which is a council of chief creative officers within DDB who assist agencies within the network on creative.

Beyond traditional advertising work, Included's services include idea development, diversity, strategic branding and content creation. “I think there's still an opportunity to develop better content, and better programming in general,” Messainu said. “I'll probably have conversations with Univision, Telemundo and some of the streaming platforms.”

Messianu said his new company won’t go after clients competitive with Alma’s clients. Messianu also has an agreement to avoid any conflicts within the DDB agency network.

“I see it more as a complement, and maybe in some instances also as a door opener,” he said. “I might be able to open a big door that is too big for Included, but might be the right one for Alma.”

Messianu plans to start leading Included by the end of the month.