NEW YORK/LONDON, November 19, 2010 — McCann Worldgroup CEO Nick Brien announced today the appointment of Linus Karlsson as Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of McCann Erickson London and New York, effective immediately.
“Linus is a true advertising genius with a passion for technology and enthusiasm for the creative opportunities enabled by today’s digital and converging media platforms,” said Brien. “He combines the necessary vision for our changing industry with an entrepreneurial spirit to take risks and challenge conventions.”
Karlsson joins McCann Erickson New York and London from Mother NY, which he co-founded in 2003. Mother NY was named Creativity’s 2009 ‘Agency of the Year,’ based on its remarkable new business success and groundbreaking work for clients such as Target, J&J, Stella Artois, Dell, NBC, Coke and Cadbury.
Prior to Mother, Karlsson worked at Fallon for seven years, creating award-winning work for Miller Lite, Virgin Mobile, MTV and Lee Jeans. His advertising career began in Sweden as a founding member of Paradiset DDB.
“McCann’s combination of a famous network, a global client base, a transformed business model and a commitment to collaboration is exactly what our industry needs,” said Karlsson. “The opportunity to become part of an agency with network scale plus creativity is an enticing proposition that doesn’t come along very often. I am thrilled to become a part of the McCann management team.”
Karlsson will join McCann’s newly created Creative Leadership Collective, charged with designing and implementing a new creative measurement standard for work, and measuring client and agency creative performance to raise the standards of creative excellence across the world.
“As a true globalist, Linus has deeply immersed himself in both U.S. and European business communities,” continued Brien. “He moves fluidly between cultures, attracting talent and inspiring diversity of thinking. I am incredibly pleased that such a proven creative talent has joined our transformation leadership team, recognizing the tremendous opportunity we all have to transform McCann Erickson into the most powerful consumer marketing agency network on the planet.”
About McCann Worldgroup
McCann Worldgroup, one of the world’s largest marketing communications companies, is comprised of McCann Erickson Worldwide (the world’s largest advertising agency network); 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); EXP (global production) and FutureBrand (consulting/design).