mcgarrybowen announced some major changes to its U.S. leadership team today. New York president and chief client officer Simon Pearce will be promoted to the role of U.S. CEO, current mcgarrybowen Chicago CCO Ned Crowley will now serve as the agency’s U.S. chief creative officer and Jennifer Zimmerman will assume a new role as U.S. chief strategy officer, in addition to her global chief strategy officer role.
The new leadership model aligns with the executive leadership team structure at parent company Dentsu Aegis Network and arrives following an expanded U.S. presence for the agency, which has offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and San Antonio. It will also the agency “to devote more time, energy, and resources to deepening client relationships and expanding mcgarrybowen’s international network,” per a press release.
“As our U.S. offering continues to grow, we realized there was a need for a new leadership teamstructure that would enable us to deliver even more for our clients and our people,” said the founder and global chairman Gordon Bowen. “mcgarrybowen has always been built on a strong trifecta of solid account, creative, and strategic leadership. This new leadership model reflects our core belief in delivering iconic creative work that builds our clients’ businesses, and also allows me to concentrate on growing and developing our offering on a global scale.”
Pearce joined mcgarrybowen New York from BBDO back in April
as the office’s president and chief client officer, replacing Tom Sewell. While with BBDO he served as executive vice president, worldwide business lead on Hewlett Packard. Previously, Pearce served as managing director for Ogilvy & Mather New York, working on accounts such as Gap, IKEA and UPS and he has also held executive roles at Wieden+Kennedy, Young & Rubicam and McCann Erickson and worked with clients including Nike, Mars, American Express, Miller Coors, Time Warner Cable and Unilever.
Crowley joined mcgarrybowen Chicago as an executive creative director back in 2007, working on key accounts including Disney and Kraft Foods. Over the years he has helped the office expand and ad accounts including Mondelēz International, The Kraft Heinz Company, Marriott International, BlueCross BlueShield, Cars.com, and the USTA.
Zimmerman, a 12-year agency veteran and the architect of its proprietary global strategic process, arrived from Green Farms Consulting in June of 2003. Prior to that, she served as executive vice president, managing partner at Y&R for two years.
“At Dentsu Aegis Network, we apply a ‘liquid talent’ approach to identify, nurture, and position rising stars and our next generation of leaders so that we can anticipate, meet, and exceed our clients’ and peoples’ needs,” explained Dentsu Aegis Network USA Ceo Rob Horler. “As proven, trusted, and effective leaders, Simon, Ned, and Jen are great examples of that philosophy at work, and a terrific team to be leading mcgarrybowen’s expanding U.S presence.”