This morning McCann confirmed what it couldn’t discuss last week: Eric Silver of Silver+Partners is closing his agency to become its regional CCO for North America.
The story started building back in early November, when we heard that CarMax would be shopping around for a new agency. Later that month, Silver+Partners had to lay off an undisclosed number of its staffers after losing what was its biggest client (the account is now with McKinney).
The press release from McCann confirms what a source first told us more than a week ago: Silver+Partners will soon close its doors after just over two years.
Silver’s resume looks like a who’s who of major American agencies: after starting his career at TBWA/Chiat/Day, he spent time at W+K Portland and BBDO before joining DDB New York. Way back in 2010, Silver left his CCO position at DDB New York to be replaced by Matt Eastwood (currently CCO at JWT). Silver, who told AdAge at the time that he “wasn’t having that much fun at my last job,” soon acquired a majority share in New York’s Amalgamated and renamed it nearly two years later.
In the release, he writes:
“I honestly loved every minute of the past four years at Amalgamated and then Silver + Partners, with 2014 being the agency’s best year by far. And we had a blast…With that said, I couldn’t be more excited to join McCann.”
This hire is the latest move made by McCann Worldgroup Creative Chairman Rob Reilly, who joined the agency early last year after leaving CP+B.
No word on when Silver+Partners will officially close or what will happen to its employees. Silver has promised to offer more details later today; updates when we get them.