McCann agency names Chris Macdonald chairman and CEO

McCann Worldgroup Chairman-CEO Bill Kolb made several key leadership appointments today, including naming Chris Macdonald, previously global president of advertising and allied brands, chairman and CEO of the McCann agency network. Harjot Singh—who was serving as chief strategy officer for the group's Europe, Middle East and Africa region—was moved to global chief strategy officer of the McCann agency network and MRM CEO Kate MacNevin added the title of chairwoman. The moves are intended to "underline the importance of the individual agency brands in the global McCann Worldgroup integrated marketing services network," according to the company. They are the latest by Kolb to build out his leadership team after he took over as chairman and CEO of McCann Worldgroup in October, succeeding Harris Diamond, who retired. “The foundation of McCann Worldgroup, since its inception over 20 years ago, has always been to offer both best-in-class expertise through each agency and best-in-class integrated solutions to meet our clients’ needs,” Kolb said in a statement. "The work, the talent, and most critically, the creative effectiveness that we have been recognized for—more than any other network over the last five years—must flourish within each of our agency brands. And each of these brands has its own unique culture while all sharing the same McCann Worldgroup core mission, values, and methodologies.” Macdonald has served in various roles over his 15 years with the McCann network, taking on the title of global president of advertising and allied agencies in 2018. He's also served as president of North America, president of New York and chairman and CEO of McCann London from 2008 to 2013. "McCann has an incredibly rich history of creativity and innovation, partnering with some of world’s biggest and best brands, and is full of fantastically talented people," Macdonald said in a statement. "I look forward to building the best future for our clients, partners and all our people around the world.” Macdonald will now focus on leading the McCann network alongside Singh. Macdonald commented on Singh's appointment: "Colleagues and clients consistently credit him with bringing clarity and delivering measurable impact. He has led our network in Europe to an unprecedented industry record of being ranked the most creatively effective agency network in the region for five consecutive years and I am delighted that he will be bringing that track record of success to the global McCann team," he said. Suzanne Powers, who was named to global president and chief strategy officer of McCann Worldgroup in October, added that, with Singh's appointment, "we now have in place the industry’s top leadership across all of our agency networks, further cementing our belief that the triumvirate of leadership (creative, strategy and business) leads to best-in-class creative effective work.” On MacNevin's promotion, Kolb said: “She is respected not just among our partners, but across every level of our organization because of her relentless dedication and determination. I have worked with Kate for over a decade, and she has earned this role based on her historic success of advancing growth, capability expansion and overall leadership of our global MRM team.”

McCann agency names Chris Macdonald chairman and CEO

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