Lucia Grillo has been promoted to U.S. chief operating officer for mcgarrybowen. Grillo joined the agency as head of operations only a year ago to oversee operations across the agency’s three U.S.-based offices: New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. In her elevated role, she will take on responsibilities for resource and project management, finance, and process in support of developing a world-class creative product for clients.
Grillo will report to Jon Dupuis, who was recently installed as mcgarrybowen’s first global president, and where he is running the global American Express account since the agency won the business two years ago.
Dupuis said. “In only a year, Lucia made a tremendous impact on bringing efficiency to our operations. Her approach was never about doing more with less, rather in finding the best ways to champion great work for our clients. She has brought value in creating excellence in how we work to drive excellence in what we create.”
Grillo joined mcgarrybowen last year from Droga5 where she was the production development director, working to create new process and working models across departments at the agency. Prior to that, she worked for sibling Dentsu agency 360i, where she was head of integrated production. Earlier, Grillo worked at VICE Media, spent 10 years as managing director of Psyop in NY, and got her start in the production department of McCann.
Grillo said, “Our clients come to mcgarrybowen for our strategic thinking and creative excellence, so everything we do, whether it’s process, workflow, etc. should serve that goal and that goal alone. For the past year, we’ve looked at what we do best across offices, and we’ve worked to optimize that, and now we look forward to taking the effort to the next level.”
