Matt Eastwood has been named global chief creative officer of McCann Health. Eastwood, most recently worldwide chief creative officer at J. Walter Thompson Co., brings a track record of all-around creative leadership to a growing health and wellness industry sector where both consumer and professional communications are increasingly embracing the global and digital expertise shared by all marketers.
Eastwood joins a McCann Health network that has been recognized as a global creative leader. In 2017, it won an unprecedented total of three Network of the Year titles from three top creative award shows–at the Clio Health awards, at the London International Awards, and for the second year in a row at the Cannes Lions Health Awards.
Eastwood’s career has spanned numerous agencies, specialties and countries, including Australia, the U.K. and U.S. He has been executive creative director at M&C Saatchi both in Melbourne and London before moving to the U.S. as chief creative officer at Y&R New York. He then moved to Sydney as DDB’s vice chairman and national creative director in Australia and then joined DDB New York as chief creative officer before leaving for JWT in 2014. In 2016, he led JWT to an historic year at Cannes, winning a total of 80 Lions, more than the agency had ever won in its 150-year history.
Rob Reilly, global creative chairman of McCann Worldgroup, said of Eastwood, “He is exactly the kind of global creative leader we need at this moment to continue McCann Health’s growth and commitment to do meaningful work for our brand partners.”
John Cahill, global CEO of McCann Health, observed, “Our health, wellness, and pharma clients across the board are increasingly looking at a changing landscape in which Matt’s broad background and sterling creative reputation will be of great relevance and value. The challenges and opportunities they are facing are consistent with those running across all of marketing, including the more empowered health consumer, the evolving health delivery system, and the growing influence of data-led marketing.”
Eastwood stated, “I’ve been impressed for some time with the creative renaissance that Rob Reilly and his teams have brought to all of McCann Worldgroup. And like many in the business, I’ve been especially aware of some of the outstanding and meaningful creative work that McCann Health in particular has been doing around the world befitting their reputation as one of the world’s most awarded global healthcare communications companies.”
