Alex Lopez is joining McCann Worldgroup as president and global chief creative officer. Lopez arrives from Nike, where he held several global leadership posts, including VP, global marketing, men’s creative director at Nike and co-founder and global head of studio at Waffle Iron Entertainment.
The addition of Lopez is the next key move in McCann Worldgroup’s expansion of how creativity works across every level of the network’s global business operations.
“We are looking at a broader future and what it means for us to be a leader in the business of creativity,” said Bill Kolb, chairman and CEO, McCann Worldgroup. “Bringing Alex on board allows us to redefine the role of global chief creative officer and sets us on a path to help our network, and our clients, plan an even greater creative future for their brands and businesses. It will define how we do business, what the future of integrated marketing looks like, and how we measure our success.”
Lopez is one of the most accomplished and awarded brand marketers and creative storytellers in the world of consumer marketing. He has defined, differentiated and activated consumer engagement for the Nike brand, shaping its positioning and messaging, driving enterprise-wide alignment, and leading teams around the world to best-in-class execution, for more than 20 years. Lopez has worked at the leading edge of evolving how Nike connects with consumers both at scale and on an individual basis, through traditional channels, existing digital channels and the latest, emerging technologies and platforms.
Suzanne Powers, president and global chief strategy officer, McCann Worldgroup, said, “Alex’s fluency in how to harness creativity on behalf of an iconic global brand, rallying the best creative ideas and implementing them across platforms internally and externally at scale, positions him to be an incredible resource for our creative, strategy and business leaders across our agency networks. Alex sits at the convergence of advertising and culture and he will help ensure our clients’ brands earn a meaningful role in people’s lives.”
Lopez has led some of the most noteworthy programs in Nike’s history, most recently being at the helm of the “Dream Crazy,” “Equality,” and “You Can’t Stop Us” campaigns. He also led efforts to launch new sport categories that include Nike Skateboarding, the brand’s launch into digital sport via the FuelBand, and its entry into premium long-form entertainment by co-founding and leading Waffle Iron Entertainment. Lopez has worked across the portfolio of brands within Nike Inc. and has overseen a diverse set of disciplines, such as advertising and brand communication, social media, media planning and buying, digital brand innovation, events and more, at the global level and across several of its geographies and territories across the world.
Nannette LaFond-Dufour, president, global clients & business leadership, said, “Alex will provide incredibly valuable insights into how global marketers conceive, plan and execute their marketing strategies on a day-to-day basis. He will help all of us be the most effective partners to our clients in every aspect of their businesses.”
“I am thrilled to move from the most exciting consumer brand in the world to one of the most creative and effective marketing companies in the world,” said Lopez. “I see a tremendous opportunity to not only partner with the incredible creative talent in place globally across the agencies but to help lead McCann Worldgroup to be the most important partner to its clients and relentlessly pursue creativity based on a holistic and strategic understanding of their clients’ businesses.”
Lopez’s work has won every important creative marketing award, including multiple Emmy nominations and two Emmy wins, eight Cannes Grand Prix Lions, a D&AD Black Pencil, the Effie 5 For 50, One Show Brand Of The Year, and hundreds of other awards. His work has been added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.
Lopez is an empathetic and empowering team leader who believes that work and results are a consequence of the culture he builds, and he has coached and mentored many senior marketing and creative leaders in the industry. He has also served as a keynote speaker, external advisor, board member, and subject matter expert for companies and organizations of all sizes and stages of development, both in the for-profit and non-profit worlds.
