Ian Mackenzie Appointed CCO at McCann Worldgroup Canada

McCann Worldgroup has appointed Ian Mackenzie to the new role of chief creative officer, McCann Worldgroup Canada from his previous role of chief creative officer of Performance Art. In his new role, Ian will guide all creative work for the network’s creative operations in Canada, which includes McCann, MRM and Craft, and offices in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. He will also take on a role serving as McCann’s global AI creative lead.

Ian is one of the most awarded and admired creative leaders in Canada, with a particular expertise in leveraging technological innovation to solve brand challenges and real-world problems. Recent, award-winning work includes the ‘Black Elevation Map’ for Black & Abroad, which takes cultural data and visualises them as points of interest on a dynamic, searchable elevation map of North America, overcoming the limited worldview of data bias and providing uplifting ways for travellers to interact with Black-owned businesses and cultural organisations, as well as ‘The Greatest Guide’ for Grupo Bimbo, which used AI and digital mapping to help foodies find 8,000+ street chefs who were innovating with hot dogs and hamburgers. 

“Ian joining our team signals a new and incredibly exciting chapter for McCann Worldgroup in Canada,” said Ryan Timms, president, McCann Canada. “We are the most enduring agency in this country, and we’ve achieved that distinction by continuing to innovate and evolve. Ian is a key part of our next evolution. I can’t think of another creative leader in this country who has continuously delivered world-class work inspired and enabled by what technology and innovation can do to enhance creative thinking.  We are so excited to have Ian on our team and can’t wait for what we do together.”

Ian has earned more than 500 industry awards, including the Grand Prix in Creative Data at Cannes, the D&AD Black Pencil, Best of Discipline at One Show and the ADC Fusion Cube Grand Prix for DEI. Recently, Performance Art was ranked 4th on the ICA’s 2024 Creative Power List.

The appointment comes as Performance Art’s world class creative technology, CRM, brand strategy and performance work, as well as its teams, will be integrated within McCann and MRM. The move is part of a broader effort by the network to align its specialised capabilities, including those that have traditionally been housed within McCann Worldgroup’s boutique agencies, with its power brands of McCann, MRM, FutureBrand and Craft, making the full breadth of the network’s capabilities accessible to a wider range of clients.

“What seems clear today is that innovation, if it was ever a fringe offering, has now moved to the centre of what clients are asking for and need from their agency partners,” said Ian. “This new leadership role across McCann, MRM and Craft in Canada creates the opportunity to combine data, tech, and AI-powered innovation with disciplined creative brand-building and production capabilities – offering clients the dynamic marketing platforms their businesses deserve. This is an iconic agency group in Canada, with a continuum of success that its current leadership has further elevated. I’m grateful for the opportunity to help unlock more of its value with the teams and can’t wait to get started.”

Ian joins McCann Canada at a time of continued momentum and accolades for the agency, including being named strategy magazine’s 2023 Bronze Agency of the Year and Silver Digital Agency of the Year in 2022. A notable highlight is that Mastercard and McCann Canada together won the Institute of Canadian Agencies (ICA) and Bell Media 2023 inclusivity, Diversity and Equity in Advertising (IDEA) competition for their ‘Fill The Business Gap’ campaign. The initiative leverages Mastercard data to help entrepreneurs find the optimal location in Canada to open their businesses.

Javier Campopiano, global chief creative officer, McCann Worldgroup, said, “Ian has been a true innovator for years, building enduring creative platforms for our clients and showing every time an innate ability to create cutting edge work that becomes part of culture. As a creative leader, he represents and embodies the spirit we want to transmit in our work: a relentless pursuit for a human truth and an obsession for bringing it to the world in its best expression. He’s created some of the most undeniably bold and progressive creativity the industry has seen, and most importantly: he is an amazing human being. He is going to be a phenomenal creative leader for Canada and global AI creative lead for McCann Worldgroup.”

McCann’s global president, Stephanie Nerlich added, “Ian is one of the industry’s top talents in leveraging technology and data to create astounding campaigns that show the true power of creativity to enrich lives either by solving problems or uniting through shared passions, identities and interests. In a world where machine and human increasingly must work together, his talent and skill sets are incredibly valuable. We are so excited to have him in this important new position.