Sid Lee moves former Publicis exec overseas to steer Absolut
Mac Macdonald has a big mandate: lead Sid Lee‘s Amsterdam office, grow the agency’s European operations and, oh, oversee the Absolut Vodka global account.
Sid Lee has given Macdonald, most recently chief strategy officer and president of Publicis’ Red Lion in Toronto, a president’s title of its own and charged him with oversight of the 70-plus-person Amsterdam office it opened in 2008.
“After five years of presence in Amsterdam, we felt it was time to appoint a global leader to solidify our presence in Europe and take the atelier to another level,” said JF Bouchard, global CEO of Sid Lee. “Mac is the perfect person to suit this mandate. His global credentials combined with his multidisciplinary skill-set will accelerate Sid Lee’s growing ambitions in Europe and help us to deliver world-class work for all of our clients.”
Macdonald has more than 20 years of experience working at agencies such as Ogilvy, Grey, Arnold and Publicis Canada (which he joined in 2008).
The Absolut assignment may seem daunting, but Macdonald has overseen global accounts before – IBM, Microsoft, Starbucks and HSBC among them.
Sid Lee won Absolut back in December, and has remained silent on its mandate and plans ever since. Official releases have said the shop will create “a new communication platform that seeks to recruit new consumers from around the world through experiences — real and virtual.” Gentle prodding on whether the iconic bottle campaign would continue, evolve or get shelved was met by only a smile and “no comment” from Macdonald.
“We’re planning big things,” is all he would offer.
