McCann Global CCO Alex Lopez to depart amid larger reorganization

McCann Worldgroup's agency brands include McCann, MRM, Weber Shandwick, McCann Health, Momentum, Craft, UM, and FutureBrand.

The reorganization follows news first reported by Campaign that McCann’s Chairman-CEO Chris MacDonald is stepping down from his role. In a LinkedIn post, MacDonald said he stepped down to return to the U.K.

As part of the shift, Suzanne Powers, previously global chief strategy officer for McCann Worldgroup, will become global chief product officer for the network, a new post. She is also being named chair of FutureBrand.

Taking over her prior role is Harjot Singh; the Worldgroup global chief strategy officer position will be combined with his current role of chief strategy officer for McCann. Kate MacNevin is being elevated to chief operating officer of McCann Worldgroup and will retain her post as global chair and CEO of MRM. McCann Worldgroup Global Chief Client Officer Nannette Dufour will be adding the title of global chief sustainability officer to her remit.

Lee confirmed that there will be room for more leadership changes in the future, including at the regional chief creative officer level for McCann Worldgroup. “Where there are McCann CCOs, they will be the first in line for that joint position if they want it,” Lee said.

Simplicity and collaboration

The goal for the restructuring, Lee said, is to foster more “collaboration” among the network's various agency brands, by making sure that each of the agency brand leaders wears a “McCann Worldgroup hat.”

He said he wants the agencies in the network to “think about how we come together as a team for our client's best interests as a connected solution,” said Lee. “That is the thing that was missing, because people were either Worldgroup or they were MRM, and now they're both.”

Beyond changing titles, Lee has also changed the bonus structure for executives at the Worldgroup level all the way to regional leaders within the network’s top 14 markets.

Under the new structure, 50% of an executive’s bonus will be tied to McCann Worldgroup’s performance and the other 50% will be tied to the individual agency brand the executive works for.

“[Now] there's not a question of, ‘If I'm at MRM and there's an opportunity that I think is right for McCann but doesn't really help my P&L, I don't bring it up,’” said Lee.

The new structure is also meant to make it “simpler” for clients to work with the network, added Lee. “We were pitching as individual agencies,” he said, while clients “want a team that can help them build a brand across the entire experience and are not really interested in where an individual capability sits.”

Lee said that McCann and Worldgroup will keep their own brands. Asked if he has plans to combine any Worldgroup agencies, Lee responded: “I don’t yet.”

Next creative leader

Now that the company's two global chief creative officer roles are connected, Lee said he will be looking to find an executive that will be as interested in “traditional advertising,” which is more McCann’s expertise, as well as “pushing into new areas of creativity,” which was what the Worldgroup chief creative officer role entailed.

“As the CCO role shifts to one that will be focused more on traditional advertising in their daily work, I am stepping aside to allow someone to take over who will bring the same passion to the job as I did during my time leading the organization," Lopez said in a statement. “I have loved my time at McCann Worldgroup and wish the team here all the best.”

Lopez will stay on until February to help with the transition, though Lee said the expanded role is yet to be filled. 

In 2021, Ad Age reported that McCann had been in talks with Javier Campopiano, worldwide chief creative officer at Grey and global chief creative officer of WPP’s OpenX dedicated Coca-Cola team, for the role that was eventually given to Lopez.

When asked if Campopiano is being considered for the expanded position, Lee declined to share any information on candidates.