New York, NY – June 17, 2010 – It was announced today that Mitchell Caplan has been appointed Chief Marketing Officer for McCann Erickson North America.  In this newly created position, Caplan will lead agency growth strategy and marketing for McCann Erickson in North America.  He will be based in New York.

“Mitch has the right leadership skills for this important role: a proven business development track record, digital expertise and experience activating a network,” said Robert LePlae, President, McCann Erickson North America.  “He is an experienced growth officer and marketing strategist and will be a strong addition to our leadership team in North America.”

“Clients’ needs are rapidly changing, and agencies need to change, quickly and intelligently, to provide leadership on how to navigate the evolving landscape.  The team at McCann and I share the same vision for where the marketing communications business is going.  It’s an exciting and important moment in time for the agency business, and I am looking forward to developing new opportunities for McCann,” said Caplan.

This key appointment comes on the heels of the hiring of Barbara Yolles as executive vice president, chief marketing officer for McCann Midwest from Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners in New York, demonstrating overall commitment to stronger and more consistent marketing and new business efforts for McCann in North America.

Caplan will be charged with leading marketing strategy and business development for McCann Erickson in North America, working with the agency’s leadership in New York, as well as McCann West, which includes San Francisco, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City; McCann Midwest, which includes Detroit; and Canada.  He will also partner with units within the McCann Worldgroup portfolio, integrating cross-discipline teams that can address large-scale business development opportunities.

Caplan previously served as Chief Marketing Officer for both Young & Rubicam Advertising and Young & Rubicam Brands, a position he has held since 2007.  In this role, he was responsible for shaping Y&R Advertising North America and Y&R Brands’ marketing, growth and integration planning and organization.  While at Y&R, Caplan was tapped by WPP twice to help develop and maintain one of its largest global relationships, Dell, Inc.  He first served as global lead for the WPP transition team that moved Dell’s $1.5B in marketing communications activity from more than 800 agency relationships into WPP, and later played a key role as WPP moved from a single agency relationship structure to positioning Y&R Brands as lead partner.

Prior to joining Y&R, Caplan served as Managing Director, Business Development and Integration at The Kaplan Thaler Group, where he led all business development activities at the Publicis agency, which was named the “Fastest Growing Agency in North America” by Advertising Age for two years during his tenure.  For two years prior he served as president of Martin Interactive, a division of The Martin Agency, helping the group to upgrade its capabilities in the digital arena by developing integrated solutions for key clients and prospects.  Earlier in his career, he held senior management and business development roles at Think New Ideas, Ammirati Puris Lintas and Bates New York.

Caplan is active in the industry, having served as chairman of the 4A’s Large Agency New Business Committee from 2008 to 2010; and chairman of the New York AdClub Andy Awards Interactive Awards from 2004 to 2007.  He currently serves on the Marketing Committee of United Jewish Appeal of New York, and the regional Alumni Board of The University of Maryland.

About McCann Erickson

McCann Erickson North America is the largest operating unit of McCann Erickson Worldwide, and part of McCann Worldgroup, one of the world’s largest marketing communications companies.  McCann Worldgroup also is comprised of MRM Worldwide (digital marketing/relationship management); Momentum Worldwide (event marketing/promotion); McCann Healthcare Worldwide (professional/dtc communications); Universal McCann (media management); Weber Shandwick (public relations) and FutureBrand (consulting/design).