McCann Worldgroup has implemented a senior leadership alignment across its global agency networks. Chris Macdonald has taken on the role of chairman and CEO of McCann, the advertising agency brand, and Harjot Singh has been promoted to global chief strategy Officer of McCann.
Macdonald, who previously served as president, Advertising and Allied brands, for McCann, will now focus on leading the advertising network, along with Singh, previously CSO for McCann Worldgroup EMEA.
The two global appointments follow other recent moves by incoming McCann Worldgroup CEO Bill Kolb to underline the importance of the individual agency brands in the global McCann Worldgroup integrated marketing services network.
“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. “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 said, “I have been lucky enough to work for McCann in many different roles over the last 15 years. 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. I look forward to building the best future for our clients, partners and all our people around the world.”
Suzanne Powers, global president of McCann Worldgroup, and global CSO, said, “Harjot is one of the world’s best and brightest. His strategic chops, deep passion for bringing out the best in our talented teams, and overall leadership abilities make him the perfect choice to lead McCann into the future strategically. Further, through this 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 Singh’s appointment, Macdonald added, “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.”
In addition to the current promotions of Macdonald and Singh, Kate MacNevin, the CEO for MRM, will add the title of chairwoman.
“Kate has one of the most passionate, deliberative and exceptional minds in all of marketing,” said Kolb. “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.”
