MxMIndia

Tag: Luca Lindner

  • McCann’s ‘Truth About Street’ study will dig deep locally to understand the richness and diversity of local culture and the effect on peoples’ lives, attitudes and behaviours

    20k McCann-ers take to streets to discover consumer truths

    By A Correspondent

     

    As part of a global research initiative, McCann Worldgroup has enlisted all of its employees around the world to leave their desks for a day and head to the streets in their local markets to meet with and interview people face-to-face to gain insights into their shopping behaviour and their relationship to cultural values. This new “Truth About Street” study will involve roughly 20,000 McCann Worldgroup employees in more than 100 countries.

     

    Said Luca Lindner, McCann Worldgroup President: “This is the first time that we have galvanised our entire employee base to help us develop in-depth insights about local culture and its connection today to brand attitudes and shopping behaviour. In doing so, our employees will hear first-hand the cultural shifts that are affecting our clients and have a deeper understanding of how to apply these learnings to help grow our client’s brands and businesses.”

     

    Added  Prasoon Joshi, Chairman of McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific and CEO of McCann Worldgroup India: “Truth About Street is a testament to the effort and energy that goes into building McCann’s understanding of local culture, especially in a dynamically changing country like India. The study is proof of our unmatched sense of community and collaboration. We are committed to maintaining our edge in being the power-house of knowledge about people, cultural shifts and evolving trends and thus giving the best to our clients.”

     

    Said Jitender Dabas, Chief Strategy Officer, McCann Worldgroup India:  “This 24-hour global-local truth hunt is a proprietary study unlike anything ever done by any agency in India or anywhere the world. It sees each and every employee engaged in unearthing rich, meaningful insights around globally relevant and locally nuanced issues and topics to capture the essence of their city and its people.”

     

    The findings will be incorporated in the next wave of the company’s Truth About Global Brands study.

     

  • If the appointment of PR honcho Harris Diamond as Chairman & CEO of McCann Worldgroup is a success, we could well see a new leadership order in adland

    Diamonds are wherever…

    Left: Harris Diamond, Right top: Gustavo Martinez, Right bottom: Luca Lindner

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Imagine the head of a large Indian PR agency being appointed CEO of his network’s well-known creative agency? You can’t dream of such an eventuality in India, but not so in the United States of America, where public relations hasn’t hit the bottom of the pyramid as it has here in India.

     

    On Tuesday, November 13, the Interpublic Group announced a series of top management changes at McCann Worldgroup:  Harris Diamond was moved from being Chairman and CEO of IPG’s Constituency Management Group (CMG, which includes Weber Shandwick) to a similar role at McCann Worldgroup, replacing Nick Brien. A new, three-person office of the Chairman has been created which will have Mr Diamond along with Luca Lindner and Gustavo Martinez who have assigned bigger roles with geographic and operational responsibilities.

     

    McCann Erickson is the dominant unit of McCann Worldgroup which also includes UM, Weber Shandwick, Momentum, MRM, Craft Worldwide, McCann Health and Future Brand.

     

    Prasoon Joshi

    What does this mean for India? Not much. Except that until Tuesday, Prasoon Joshi as head of McCann in South Asia reported directly to CEO Nick Brien will now relate with Mr Martinez who takes charge of Asia-Pacific in addition to Europe. Mr Diamond told a Campaign Asia journalist that he had been in touch with Mr Joshi.

     

    Part of the reason why the office of the Chairman has been created is reportedly Mr Diamond’s background of being a Public Relations maven. Widely regarded as among the top 10 PR practitioners in the world, Mr Diamond role at CMG and Weber Shandwick specificially has received several accolades.

     

    His appointment to McCann is significant as he’s possibly the first true blue Public Relations professional taking charge of a large, global creative advertising company.  For IPG, industry observers say, it’s all about managing a communications firm, keeping costs under control, maintaining  a disciplined organization and most importantly: get in sync with the customer’s future strategy.

     

    Reasoned a former colleague David Brain: “In the era of enfranchised consumer and stakeholder and when everyone now ‘gets’ the need to engage and change strategy based on the long term needs of stakeholders and consumers, it is PR thinking not advertising thinking that is best placed to succeed.  Note, I’m labeling advertising thinking as the problem, not necessarily advertising agencies.”

     

    Mr Diamonds work appears cut out. Along with Messrs Lindner and Martinez plus Linus Karlsoon and Daryl Lee, global creative and strategy officers respectively who will take charge of the day-to-day operations of the agency, he needs to first ensure that people do not use ‘ailing’ as a descriptor for McCann Erickson.

     

    PR Week magazine reports on how in the 11 years that Mr Diamond led Weber Shandwick, he created a “powerhouse that had other shops looking over their shoulders”. The magazine’s website notes: “Contemporaries in the industry said he was a visionary who led his firm to be one of the most successful in the country.”

     

    Mr Diamond has the reputation of being cost-conscious and Mr Brain has this view: “My top tip for anyone at McCann who will be meeting Harris in the next few days and weeks is make sure you know how to forecast your revenues; make sure you know your cost base; make sure you are intimately connected with your clients and their needs and make sure you do quality work, because he can sniff BS a mile away!”

     

    Will Harris Diamond shine where Nick Brien didn’t. After all, Mr Brien too came with the reputation of being a successful Universal McCann captain and very customer-focussed. Guess time will tell.

     

    There are many people watching.  The success of this appointment could well see winds of change blowing across adland and the entire world of marketing communications.

     

    And to the world of PR professionals in India: fingers crossed. It could well be your time soon!