John Mescall has been named as the new global executive creative director at McCann's headquarters in New York. The move will see him relocated from McCann Australia, where he has served as executive creative director since October 2011. The move is part of McCann global creative chairman, Rob Reilly's initiative to bolster the agency's global creative leadership team. Mescall will join fellow global executive creative directors, James Dawson-Hollis and Bill Wright, who joined McCann from Ogilvy West in Los Angeles earlier this month.
Mescall has more than 30 Cannes Lions under his belt, with 5 Grand Prix wins for the irreverent 'Dumb Ways To Die' campaign for Metro Train
Before he joined McCann Australia as executive creative director, Mescall held the same role at the independent agency, SMART, which was bought by McCann Worldgroup in 2011. He has more than 30 Cannes Lions under his belt, with 5 Grand Prix wins for the irreverent 'Dumb Ways To Die' campaign for Metro Trains, and another Grand prix for his work with the train operator, V/Line. Other awards on his mantlepiece include Black and Yellow Pencils at the D&AD Awards, and his work has even been featured in TED's 'Ads Worth Spreading' programme. The move comes just days after McCann Melbourne added to its incredible 5 Grand Prix haul at last year's Cannes Lions with another Grand Prix in Creative Effectiveness. McCann have obviously chosen this year's festival as a venue to announce the move, as its a week when the eyes of the entire advertising world are focused on Cannes.
John Mescall
Ben Lilley, chairman and CEO of McCann Australia is ecstatic for his former charge, and equally so for Pat Baron and Dejan Rasic, Mescall's co-workers on 'Dumb Ways To Die', who have been made executives creative directors of McCann's Melbourne, and Sydney offices respectively. Lilley believes Mescall's appointment is a “Wonderful endorsement of the world-class creative output (McCann Australia) has been producing over the past two years.” He is incredibly excited to see Baron and Rasic, two of Australia's most awards ECD's, leading the agencies creative output, and working together with Mescall in his new global role.
Rob Reilly is certain that Mescall's stellar reputation will act as a “Magnet for recruiting the best and brightest to McCann.”
Of his new global ECD, Reilly says that Mescall is “All talent and no ego,” and that having “Helped lead McCann Australia to become one of the best agencies in the world,” he now has “The opportunity to magnify what he does on a global stage.” He is certain that Mescall's stellar reputation will act as a “Magnet for recruiting the best and brightest to McCann.” Mescall himself is incredibly excited to join the global team, and says that the opportunity to work closely with Reilly was “Just too big not to take,” as he feels himself and the global creative chairman are “Very aligned on the kind of work” they seek to do. He goes on to praise Reilly's “Ambitious agenda” for the network, which should allow “Creativity to permeate everything” they do. He says the move will allow him to leverage his experience, and he looks forward to playing a larger role in McCann's future.
Official McCann Worldwide Website
Official McCann Australia Website
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from the UK who is still deflating after last night's woeful world cup defeat.
