Mary Chambers Named Chief Strategy Officer of MacLaren McCann Canada

David Leonard, CEO, MacLaren McCann Canada, today announced the appointment of Mary Chambers as Chief Strategy Officer. Chambers joins from Publicis Canada where she was Vice President, National Head of Strategic Planning. She will oversee planning across all disciplines and offices.

“We are excited to have Mary on board. Her passion for solving complex problems is contagious and will bring big benefits to our clients and agency,” said Leonard. “Mary has many strengths, and chief among them is uncovering the insights that help transform a client’s business in an undeniably compelling way.”

Suzanne Powers, Global Chief Strategy Officer McCann Wolrdgroup said, “We are thrilled to welcome Mary to the team.  She is driven by finding those powerful truths that help unlock creativity for our brands. Her strategic chops and passion for the business will be a wonderful addition to our new leadership team in Canada and our global strategic community at large.”

At Publicis, Chambers led strategy for such clients as Nestlé, CIBC, and Home Depot. She was instrumental in helping the agency win both the WestJet and Rogers accounts. For WestJet, Chambers played a leadership role in the celebrated “Above and Beyond” campaign and was a key architect of the new Rogers brand platform.

In addition to leading planning, Chambers’ duties will extend to MacLaren McCann’s new data and analytics practice. Under her direction clients will have access to an impressive suite of services encompassing digital strategy, analytics, content, social, and branding.

Chambers’ announcement follows that of Darren Clarke joining as Chief Creative Officer. Commenting on both appointments, Leonard said, "This is the start of a new mission at MacLaren McCann. Mary and Darren are joining us at precisely the right time. They will be instrumental in helping leverage our amazing heritage of influence in Canadian business while building new capabilities and momentum that are going to amaze and inspire our clients.”

"The opportunity to work with David Leonard and Darren Clarke is one I just couldn’t pass up,” said Chambers. “And to do so at a global agency experiencing such amazing momentum makes this an incredible opportunity."

Previous to Publicis Canada, Chambers was a strategic planner at Young & Rubicam in Toronto. She worked there on the Robax and Advil brands for Whitehall Robbins, V8 and Chunky Soup for Campbell’s, Kool-Aid for Kraft, Scotts, and Prince Edward Island Tourism. She began her career as a strategic planner at BBDO in Warsaw, Poland, where her clients included Snickers, Bounty, Pepsi, Dr. Oetker, Bayer, and Daewoo.