The Community names global chief strategy officer

The Community has named Lee Maicon its global chief strategy officer. 

Maicon is an agency vet of more than 25 years who has held key leadership positions at Edelman, McCann and 360i, among others. His arrival will effectively expand the global agency’s strategy offerings across all its offices.

Maicon last served as global chief innovation and strategy officer at Edelman, where he promoted the integration of creative and strategy into the company’s full offering for clients including HP, Google and Samsung. Prior to that, he was McCann North America’s chief strategy officer, following an eight-year stint in the same role at 360i. His earlier roles also saw him leading multicultural efforts at companies including Univision, StarMedia, Grey and more. 

Throughout, he's flexed his strategic chops across numerous global brands such as Mondelez, Coca-Cola, Toyota, HBO and Estée Lauder.

Maicon will oversee the agency’s strategic work across all global client partners, including Verizon, Volkswagen, Oreo, Netflix, Diageo, Porsche Latin America, among others. He is the first global CSO taking on all clients in the US and LATAM, including Verizon.

On the executive leadership team, he’ll also partner with agency leaders to ensure it evolves successfully as it grows. 

Born in Mexico and raised in Miami, Maicon has always paid mind to how cross-cultural influences have shaped brands and consumers’ perceptions of them. Last year for Ad Age, he looked back on creative brand moves from over the years that reflected LatinX influence on the broader culture. “It reminded me how important the culturally fluid perspective is to modern work and how important creativity is to me,” Maicon told Ad Age. “The Community has both in spades. Plus, I like the blurred lines between strategy and creative.”

“The agency has uniquely culturally aware roots, with diverse thought and creativity first, and they share my background and trajectory,” Maicon added in a statement. “Coming to a place that truly sees people and their unique capabilities, and deeply cares about and protects creative thinking—as a strategist, that’s exciting. I couldn’t be more honored to join them in helping brands grow, thrive, and do interesting things in the world.”

“Where does a strategy end and an idea begin?” added Joaquín Mollá, founder and chief creative officer of The Community.  "Nobody knows. All the great creatives are strategists at some level. And the same happens with great strategists. When both sides understand that, getting to the right idea becomes a very collaborative process. And that’s what I love about Lee. He brings a strong point of view to the table, but he is also a great team player. He is a global thinker who loves this industry, loves great work and hates when great work dies as much as we do. Having him fight the good fight with us every day is truly amazing. He will definitely make us a better company,” 

Along with Maicon, The Community tapped former FCB Director of Strategy James Friedman as SVP-strategy to lead the agency on Verizon. 

The new hires join the agency following a successful year of growth. Named as a Standout on this year’s A-List, last year, The Community  saw major client wins including TikTok, Samsung Global and U.S. Volkswagen and Planet Fitness while retaining all its client business, all leading to  19% year-over-year growth. 

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Clarification: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that Lee is the first global chief strategy officer. He is the first global CSO taking on all clients in the US and LATAM, including Verizon.