McCann Worldgroup Australia has officially acquired Smart, with Smart CEO Ben Lilley to replace Chris Mort as chief executive of the group.
The move will see McCann director of strategy Helen Karabassis and McCann Melbourne managing director James Graham leave the agenc along with Mort.
Smart national planning director and Sydney managing director Ashley Farr will become McCann Worldgroup Sydney managing director, while Smart Melbourne managing director Simon Burrett will become McCann Worldgroup Melbourne managing director.
In his role as McCann Worldgroup chief executive, Ben Lilley will oversee offices in Australia and New Zealand. He will oversee McCann Erickson and McCann Healthcare.
The majority of Smart clients and staff will be merged with McCann Erickson. However, a separate entity with the Smart name will continue to exist under the McCann Worldgroup banner. According to Lilley, it will handle “specialist functions”.
Lilley will also oversee this specialist agency, with Smart’s Janelle Toomey to become managing director of the new Smart agency. Toomey was previously managing director of Smart’s strategy and design arm Illuminati.
On the creative front, McCann Sydney executive creative director Michael Raso will remain ECD of the Sydney office, while Smart ECD John Mescall becomes ECD of the McCann Melbourne office. The newly created Smart “specialist” agency will be creatively led by Ben Davis, who was previously creative director of Illuminati.
McCann Worldgroup SEA and Australasia regional managing director Charles Cadell said in a statement: “Smart has an amazing reputation and is famous for its irreverent, youthful and exuberant advertising and its vibrant media footprint. The collective genius of Smart’s exceptional local expertise combined with the scale of McCann Worldgroup provides an even greater foundation to produce groundbreaking work from the local to the global stage. SMART considers itself a 'borderless' agency that fits in seamlessly with the McCann Worldgroup mission of integration.”
Chief executive Ben Lilley said in a statement: “Smart has proudly been an independent agency with an outstanding track record of growth and creative excellence over the last ten years. Uniting with McCann Worldgroup was the perfect next step in our evolution. Our aspirations, vision and principles are absolutely aligned. The combined competencies of our agencies coupled with the global footprint of McCann Worldgroup creates an unrivalled strategic and creative offering across theAustralian and New Zealand markets.”
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