CANNES – McCann Erickson has promoted John Mescall to the new role of global executive creative director. Mescall is currently executive creative director of McCann Australia, a position he has held since October 2011.
Mescall will relocate to New York in the coming months and join recently announced Global ECD’s James Dawson-Hollis and Bill Wright as part of McCann Worldgroup global creative chairman Rob Reilly’s initiative to strengthen the agency’s creative leadership. Australia’s national creative leadership will be shared by multi-award winning Melbourne and Sydney ECD’s Pat Baron and Dejan Rasic.
Said Ben Lilley, Chairman and CEO of McCann Australia; “We are ecstatic for John – and equally so for Pat and Dejan – and the fantastic opportunities this move creates for all three. It’s a wonderful endorsement of the world-class creative output our entire Australian operation has been producing over the past two years. In Pat and Dejan we now have two of Australia’s most awarded ECD’s leading our creative output. And I am incredibly excited for what they will be able to achieve together and working with John in his global role.”
Under the creative leadership of Mescall and Baron and with the recent addition of Rasic, McCann Australia was the most awarded agency in the world in 2013 with more than 200 trophies across 15 globally recognized campaigns, including Dumb Ways To Die for Metro Trains, Impossible Orchestra for the federal government, Guilt Trips for V/Line and the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s 100-Day Challenge. Prior to joining McCann, Mescall was partner and executive creative director of SMART (which was acquired by McCann Worldgroup in 2011), one of the most successful and progressive independent agencies in Australia.
Baron and Rasic have collectively won more than 50 Cannes Lions, including 5 Grand Prix in 2013 and this week a further Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness for V/Line. Other awards include: Black and Yellow Pencils at D&AD, Best of Show at The One Show, and multiple Clio and Webby awards. With Metro Trains Dumb Ways to Die also featured in TED’s “Ads Worth Spreading” initiative, the only Australian work to ever be selected.
Said Rob Reilly, global creative chairman: “John’s all talent and no ego and he has helped lead McCann Australia to become one of the best agencies in the world. John now has the opportunity to magnify what he does on a global stage. I am certain that John’s reputation for delivering stellar work will be a magnet for recruiting the best and brightest to McCann.”
“It’s a seriously exciting time at McCann,” said Mescall. “The opportunity to work closely with Rob was just too big not to take, and we’re very aligned on the kind of work we seek to do. He has a very ambitious agenda for the network and wants creativity to permeate everything we do. The move allows me to leverage my experience, and I look forward to playing a bigger role in our collective future.”
