McCann Worldgroup has hired Javier Campopiano as its global chief creative officer and as global chief creative officer of its McCann agency.

Campopiano will join McCann “by the end of the year,” according to Daryl Lee, global CEO of McCann Worldgroup. Lee described the hiring process as “quick” but “intense” and a “tight negotiation.”

McCann Worldgroup's agency brands include McCann, MRM, Weber Shandwick, Momentum, Craft, UM and FutureBrand. McCann Worldgroup is part of Interpublic Group of Cos.

Campopiano was most recently worldwide chief creative officer of WPP's Grey and played a central role in that holding company's win of the Coke business in 2021. He held a dual role as WPP's global CCO for its dedicated Coca-Cola team, OpenX. 

McCann's dual CCO role

The news comes a month after McCann Worldgroup announced that Global CCO Alex Lopez would be leaving the company and that it would combine McCann Worldgroup’s global chief creative officer role with the CCO role at McCann in a broader reorganization.

“I think Javier was just trying to figure out what's the next iteration of his contribution to the industry,” Lee said. “And this combined role felt right and big enough, not in its importance, but big in its breadth."

Ad Age had previously reported that McCann had been in talks with Campopiano dating back to 2021 prior to Lopez taking on the role. One reason that Campopiano did not accept the position at that time was his contract with WPP, according to multiple people close to the situation.

Lee denied that contract issues delayed McCann's discussions with Campopiano. “Contracts are always a discussion in terms of somebody this creatively influential moving jobs,” Lee said. “I think the big discussion with Javier was around the dual role.”

Campopiano will continue to be based in Madrid.

Advertising and branded content experience

During his tenure at Grey, Campopiano gained worldwide acclaim for the “It's a Tide Ad” campaign, which won him a Black Pencil at D&AD, a Titanium Lion, and the 2019 Grand Effie, among other awards. He’s worked on top-tier brands over his career including Amazon, Walmart, Volvo, Oreo, Crest, Ariel, Carlsberg, Nivea, Toyota and Sprite.

Prior to Grey, Campopiano was CCO at Saatchi & Saatchi New York. He started his career at Ogilvy Argentina and went on to hold regional creative director positions in Latin America for Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi and FCB before moving to the U.S. to become CCO of FCB New York.

Lee said he wanted Campopiano at the helm given that he has both traditional advertising and branded content experience.

“I think he’ll give everybody a lot of confidence at McCann Worldgroup that if the idea is right for the brand and right for the audience, we will find a way to make it,” Lee said. “And we won't be constrained by, ‘It's not an ad. So how do we do this?’ Which I think is going to be his superpower.”

Campopiano was not available for an interview. In a statement, he called his four years at Grey “amongst the most fulfilling of my career,” and described McCann Worldgroup as “one of the most complete and exciting assemblies of brands and talent” in the industry.

“These days we all have two jobs in advertising: create excellence for the assignments we work on; and make our industry a talent magnet again,” Campopiano said. “McCann Worldgroup is an exciting place to make these things happen.” 

Campopiano's departure marks another blow for Grey which saw Global Creative Chairman John Patroulis and New York Chief Creative Officer Justine Armour depart in July.

“We’re extremely proud of the Famously Effective work we’ve made together with Javier over the past four years,” Laura Maness, Grey's global CEO, said in a statement. “We’re confident in a smooth transition through the summer and look forward to announcing some very exciting news in the near future.”