McCann the Agency Has Promoted Chris Macdonald to CEO and Chairman

Macdonald was previously president, advertising and allied agencies, for the IPG-owned McCann Worldgroup, which encompasses shops including media network UM and PR firm Weber Shandwick. He will now focus on leading McCann with Singh, who was previously chief strategy officer for McCann Worldgroup EMEA. 

The two appointments are part of McCann Worldgroup CEO Bill Kolb‘s plan to “underline the importance of the individual agency brands in the global McCann Worldgroup integrated marketing services network.” Kolb became CEO and chairman of McCann Worldgroup at the start of this year, succeeding Harris Diamond.

“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 in a statement. “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 has held a number of roles at McCann Worldgroup since joining 15 years ago. In a statement, he said he looks forward “to building the best future for our clients, partners and all our people around the world.”

Suzanne Powers, who was recently named global president and global chief strategy officer of McCann Worldgroup, said of Singh’s appointment: “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.” 

In addition to the promotions of Macdonald and Singh, Kolb announced that 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.”

Last week, McCann New York hired Perry Fair as evp, global executive creative director and director of entertainment, a new role at the agency.