McCann Worldgroup Reorgs for a Project-Based Future

McCann Worldgroup is among the iconic advert businesses of the twenty first century, behind Mastercard’s “Priceless” and L’Oréal’s “As a result of You’re Price It.” Nevertheless, because the media ecosystem evolves, its legacy construction should adapt to help purchasers shifting on the velocity of contemporary advertising. 

Since taking the chief executive (CEO) role in 2022, Daryl Lee has been restructuring the enterprise to raised serve purchasers with altering wants.

He has reorganized it into 4 manufacturers—McCann, manufacturing firm Craft, model consultancy Futurebrand, and precision advertising company MRM—eradicating silos so purchasers can entry all or components of the enterprise extra simply.

Now, McCann Worldgroup is saying additional modifications to reorient expertise round purchasers, in response to a memo obtained by ADWEEK on Thursday (Could 8). 

Talking with ADWEEK after a city corridor the place he addressed the modifications with employees, Lee mentioned that as AI makes execution cheaper and simpler, purchasers want businesses to supply “strategic creativity.” In the meantime, companies that was bundled into AOR contracts, from ideation to execution, at the moment are up for grabs as particular person initiatives. 

In response, McCann has invested in senior shopper management whereas stripping again regional and administration roles. These shopper leaders put on twin hats, additionally heading up a area or an workplace. On this arrange, “the burden of the strategic and inventive sources is in direction of purchasers,” Lee mentioned. 

Because the inventive AOR wanes, McCann is investing in challenge managers as an evolution of the account administration perform. Whereas account individuals “usually do the identical activity over time,” challenge managers “can handle the complexity of 15 initiatives at a time throughout very various things,” Lee mentioned.  

Whereas change has been obligatory, it’s additionally been troublesome.

Lee confirmed reviews of layoffs within the first half of 2025, acknowledging cuts at McCann Detroit after Chevrolet dropped the company as a part of a roster overhaul. He mentioned the enterprise has cycled by way of the 2023 loss of Verizon and has “grown in a class that’s declining,” with double-digit development in social and influencer.

As for many who chose to leave McCann on their very own just lately, “all people has seen the writing on the wall, and I feel some individuals took the chance…to say, ‘I’d like one thing else.’ And we gave all people that chance,” Lee mentioned.