McCann Worldgroup has hired Rob Reilly as global creative chairman, and promoted Linus Karlsson to creative chairman of Commonwealth, the McCann Worldgroup agency dedicated to the global Chevrolet account. Also, Andreas Dahlqvist has been named chief creative officer of Commonwealth and president of the McCann Creative Leadership Council. Karlsson and Dahlqvist respectively had been chief creative officer and deputy chief creative officer, Global Brands, McCann Erickson.
In addition to his Commonwealth responsibilities, Karlsson will also be forming a new venture to be unveiled in the spring of 2014.
Reilly joins McCann Worldgroup from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, where he served as partner/worldwide chief creative officer. In his new role, Reilly will be responsible for creative oversight of the McCann brand globally as well as developing multiplatform approaches for clients by leveraging McCann Worldgroup’s broad capabilities and communications resources.
As president of the McCann Creative Leadership Council, Dahlqvist, in conjunction with Reilly, will be responsible for inspiring creative excellence throughout the network.
Harris Diamond, chairman and CEO, McCann Worldgroup, said, “With the addition of Rob and with Linus and Andreas’ new roles–teamed with Luca Lindner (president, McCann Worldgroup) and our other Worldgroup creative leadership that includes Prasoon Joshi, Washington Olivetto, Joyce King Thomas, Monica Moro, Leandro Raposo and John Mescall, as well as the rest of our creative teams around the world–we continue to strengthen our focus on global client leadership and our commitment to delivering McCann’s highest standards of creative excellence.”
Reilly joined CP+B in 2002, after spending a decade at a number of New York ad agencies. He began his CP+B career as a copywriter, creating some of the most talked about campaigns in history. In his role as worldwide chief creative officer, he drove the creative vision for all of CP+B’s clients around the globe. A highly-awarded creative, Reilly’s work has been recognized at Cannes with multiple Titanium and Grand Prix Lions as well as three Interactive Agency of the Year awards. He has served on a number of industry awards juries, including as President of the Cannes Titanium and Integrated Jury. Reilly is also a member of the Cannes Chimera and the Facebook Creative Council, a group that advises on advertising product ideas and agency concerns.
Reilly said, “The opportunity was hard to resist when the CEO looks you in the eye and says, ‘I want creativity to permeate everything we do.’ That is really all you can ask for. Then it is up to you and the people you surround yourself with to get it done. The chance to work with my friend Linus and the rest of the super talented people of McCann Worldgroup made my decision very easy. Plus, I am returning to the agency that gave me my first shot as a junior copywriter almost twenty years ago. I learned from some really great people about hard work and doing things the right way. That’s the kind of stuff that stays with you.”
