Patrick Lafferty has been appointed U.S. president of mcgarrybowen, He succeeds Simon Pearce who recently departed the agency. Lafferty will take on his new role in the spring, reporting to Nick Brien, CEO, Americas, Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), parent to mcgarrybowen. Lafferty will oversee mcgarrybowen’s offices in New York, Chicago and San Francisco.

Lafferty brings more than 25 years of experience leading creative agencies and brands. Most recently, Lafferty served as president of independent agency Translation. Earlier in his career, Lafferty held senior positions at Discovery Communications and Leo Burnett. Before beginning his career in marketing, Lafferty served as an officer in the U.S. Army for seven years.

He joins mcgarrybowen at a period of rapid growth fueled by recent wins from American Express and Subway, along with organic growth among existing clients, including Clorox and Kraft Heinz. Lafferty also joins a strong leadership team in Jennifer Zimmerman, global chief strategy officer, and Ned Crowley, U.S. chief creative officer, as well as Angela Johnson and Laurel Flatt, presidents of mcgarrybowen NY and Chicago, respectively, and John Berg and Tom Sebastian, co-CEOs of Swirl mcgarrybowen, San Francisco.

“The power of an integrated brand platform that brings together innovative brand strategy and bold creative ideas is critical in an increasingly digital world,” said Brien. “mcgarrybowen is our largest creative agency and we need the strongest leadership in place to drive integration in today’s complex media landscape. I’m confident we have attracted one of the industry’s most experienced and talented leaders in Pat to make this happen.” 

Lafferty has a history of leading integrated teams through change and transformation, including growing Travel Channel through two ownership changes, restructuring and expanding McCann’s global operation and helping BBH earn its first Integrated Grand Prix Cannes Lion for Netflix.

“mcgarrybowen is an iconic creative agency with great momentum. I’m thrilled to come on board at this key moment to ensure we continue delivering big ideas and support the incredibly talented team of creative and strategic visionaries. I’m also very excited to be able to leverage the tremendous diverse marketing capabilities across DAN,” said Lafferty.