Chris Mort ‘set to exit’ McCann Australia
Exit: Mort
McCann Worldgroup Australia is declining to comment on growing speculation that Chris Mort, the CEO and chairman of the organisation, is leaving.
Word of Mort’s departure have reached Mumbrella from more than one reliable source.
The news emerges as McCann prepares to announce sweeping changes to its Australian operation following its acquisition of Smart, revealed by Mumbrella last week. Parent company Interpublic is in the midst of dramatically reshaping its faltering Australian operations withLowe purchasing 303 although the agency continues to insist that a deal has not yet been done.
Smart are such an ordinary agency….why would you ? desperate times hey
I don’t know which Smart you’re talking about Steve, but having had many dealings with this agency over the past few years I have found them to be nothing but first rate and they deserve every success.
Well done to everyone at Smart. There are plenty of critics in this business but very few who are out there achieving anything of substance. Your accomplishments speak for themselves.
Nice one Better Informed, did you get the job?
interesting, very interesting….. it would like to know who else is sitting in the departure lounge. I can think of two who should be……but I ain’t telling.
@Phillip the Great : Funny how you have overlooked the new digital offering that comes with this partnership. Spending too much time in the ‘departure lounge’ leads to boredom… check out the arrivals lounge for a change and you might glimpse all that McCann now has to offer in acquiring Smart. Everyone at McCann and Smart have boarding passes… do you?
@Shane, I think the purchase of Smart by McCann is a fantastic acquisition. My point is that there are at least two ‘influential’ people at McCann who will need to be moved on for the merger to work.
The one constant in mergers of any kind and in any industry is the culling of management from either side. I suspect IPG didn’t buy Smart to turn it into McCann or to buy clients, more likely they bought it to change McCann’s culture. Lets be blunt McCann has underperformed for a while now, ( not a critique just an observation.
If you look around you will also notice other big agencies within global networks ‘rebuilding’ , it is a necessary painful experience for some senior folk.. Again not a critique just reality.
Maybe Chris got a friendly whisper from New York. McCanns there just lost long- standing client Nescafe (billings $71 million – puts Aus ad budgets in perspective) to Publicis. McCanns also lost Nescafe in the UK two weeks back. McCanns were given every chance by Nestle over several years (!) to retain Nescafe but couldn’t produce the goods over there either. I just have to say it …. Smart move Chris.