McCann Worldgroup Australia has today confirmed
that chairman and CEO, Ben Lilley, will be stepping down at the end of
March after 18 years in his leadership role. The search
for his replacement commenced several months ago and is expected to be
announced shortly.
Lilley joined McCann Australia as chairman and
CEO McCann after the sale of his agency, SMART, in 2011. Charged with
reinventing the agency's integrated creative offering, McCann Australia
has since achieved record growth and been named Agency of the Year at
D&AD, London International, Spikes Asia, Campaign Asia, Campaign
Brief and AWARD. Lilley also served as McCann Worldgroup creative
leadership chair, Asia Pacific, responsible for driving McCann's
creative excellence across the APAC region in 2016 and 2017.
Under
Lilley's leadership, in 2013 McCann Australia made history as the
world's most awarded agency in the the Gunn Report, Won Report and
AdAgeAwards Report, for campaigns including Dumb Ways to Die (DWTD).
Named the most awarded campaign in history, DWTD featured in both the
AdAge Top 15 Ad Campaigns and Gunn Report 20 Best Commercials of the
21st Century.
McCann is now amongst only a handful of Australian agencies to have
recorded year-on-year Cannes Lions since. In 2017, McCann was the second
ranked Australian agency at Cannes. It has been equally recognised in
effectiveness awards, winning a coveted Cannes Lions Creative
Effectiveness Grand Prix for V/Line in 2014 and numerous effectiveness
awards at the Australian, APAC and Global Effies, the Asian Marketing
Effectiveness Awards and WARC. In 2017 McCann Melbourne was one of just
four Australian agencies to finish in the top 10 of the 2017 Global WARC
100 list of the world's most effective marketing campaigns.
Since
Lilley assumed the CEO role, McCann has invested significantly in its
integrated offering, introducing full-service media in-house in 2015 and
merging its strategic, media and digital and creative capabilities
under a single agency offering. The move has paid off, with major new
business wins and integrated campaign launches for high-profile clients
including L'Oreal, AGL, tigerair, Microsoft, Bakers Delight, Worksafe
and the University of Melbourne.
Says Harris Diamond, chairman
and CEO of McCann Worldgroup: "From our first entry into Australia six
decades ago, this country has been, and will continue as, one of the
cornerstones of our global network. Since becoming part of McCann, Ben
and his team have helped raise our Australian creative and integrated
marketing offering to world-class recognition. As he moves into the next
phase in his life, we thank him for his contributions and wish him
great personal success."
Says Charles Cadell, president, McCann
Worldgroup APAC: "Ben has led one of McCann's most successful offerings
for years, responsible for delivering outstanding work and building a
truly dynamic and exciting business. In his capacity as our APAC CLC
Chair, he effected remarkable results, with 2017 being the best ever
year for our regional award wins - both on the creative and the
effectiveness front. One of those rare hybrid leaders - a true mix of
creative and CEO - he'll be very much missed by the network and we wish
him all the best."
Says Lilley: "Having run SMART for 12 years
and now McCann for 6 years, I'm ready for a proper break. I'm grateful
to the many awesome people I've worked with in this time who've made our
businesses such great successes. I'm also grateful for the many equally
awesome opportunities I've been able to enjoy with McCann, especially
in my APAC creative role. I'm pleased to be able to hand over to our
incoming CEO an agency that's in such great shape, with a talented
management team across our 4 Australian offices. McCann's momentum here
and across the globe is clear to see and I know our business will
continue to go from strength to strength. I can't wait to see what the
future holds."