There will be another new face at MacLaren McCann soon. Darren Clarke, who had been executive creative director at Taxi since 2012, has been hired as MacLaren’s chief creative officer.
Before steering award-winning work for Taxi, Clarke had been a creative director at Cossette after stints at DDB Downtown Partners and TBWA\Chiat Day. He won’t start at MacLaren until July, after the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, at which he will serve on the Film Lion jury.
David Leonard—only 30 days into his tenure as MacLaren’s CEO —began his search for a creative leader before even arriving at the beginning of May.
The agency had been without official creative leadership since Sean Davison left in January. Veteran creative leader Jack Neary had been hired on a contract basis to help with business development, and was helping in the creative department after Davison’s departure. Neary’s own departure in the spring created an executive gap.
“It’s not been a happy place creatively for some time,” said Leonard, who replaced Doug Turney at McCann. “I needed to have the license and the resources to do what needed to be done. [Creative] is an absolutely vital part of the mix, so I started requesting homework and interviews before I landed here.”
Clarke impressed Leonard on several fronts. “The role of [CCO] is about client relationships, pitch strategy, and envisioning the agency brand,” Leonard said. “You have to have interest in all those different pieces. It’s not just about the [creative] output, and it’s hard to find those people who are part suit, part strategist, part client, part creative and leaders.
“And I can’t deal with attitudes and egos. I want proven, genuine people who are comfortable in their own skin. Darren is just one of those guys.”
Now with a new president, ECD and group CD with the hire of Joe Piccolo in April (just three of a number of big changes we’ve seen in the industry lately), MacLaren McCann has fully entered a period of transition. While the agency maintains stable revenues and relationships with clients such as GM, Bayer and MasterCard, Luca Lindner, president of McCann Worldgroup, had previously told Marketing that it had been hindered by two obstacles: lackluster new business growth and staid creative.
“Darren has a history of great work at the best agencies in Canada,” said Rob Reilly, the network’s global creative chairman. “He will bring those skills and energy to set a new creative bar at MacLaren McCann and I like that.”
In a statement, Clarke said, “McCann has gained a lot of attention with its creative product around the world… Now it’s time for Canada to add to that. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
