Michael Canning has joined the creative leadership team at agency 72andSunny as group director. He arrives in Los Angeles after four years as managing partner, executive creative director at Leo Burnett New York.
A native of Sydney Australia, Canning began his career when he won a scholarship to Central Saint Martins University of the Arts, London. He then joined Lowe Hunt Sydney, where his work for Unilever’s “Lynx Jet” catapulted the agency to #1 agency in Australia, winning the Cannes Media Grand Prix. Canning then joined Leo Burnett’s Sydney office where his work for Canon, Diagio and World Wildlife Fund again catapulted it to the #1 ranked creative agency in Australasia in 2010, winning the Cannes Media Grand Prix for the second time.
Burnett then invited Canning to launch an office for the network in New York. He left Sydney in 2011 and relocated to the USA as a founding member of Leo Burnett New York. Under Canning’s stewardship, the agency quickly grew to 40 staffers with work for brands including the Village Voice, United Nations, Kellogg’s, Samsung Digital Appliances, Chobani and FiLIP Technologies. Canning has most recently led the creation of a New York Off-Broadway play for the Village Voice, titled “8 Million Protagonists” which brought New Yorkers’ real stories to life on stage, and the design and launch of “FiLIP”–named technologies at CES in 2014.
“Launching an agency in New York was an invaluable learning experience for me but I’m really excited to move on to the next chapter in my career,” said Canning. “LA has emerged as the new epicenter of branded content, tech and entertainment, and 72andSunny is right in the middle of that. I feel a genuine optimism here that we can make great things and take the industry to exciting new places.”
Canning’s work has collected 39 Cannes Lions including two Cannes Grand Prix honors for Media (Unilever’s “Lynx Jet” and Canon’s “Photochains”), two Cannes Media Agency of the Year titles, 12 Gold Lions, the inaugural Cannes Gold Lion for Branded Entertainment, D&AD pencils, the One Show Entertainment Best of Show and International.
