- Noreen O'Leary

NEW YORK Curt Detweiler, a partner and ecd at Ground Zero, has been named North American evp, ecd, at McCann Erickson, a new title at the IPG shop.

Detweiler, who assumes his new role in November, is the first major hire by Robert LePlae, who became president of McCann Erickson North America in August. Detweiler worked closely with LePlae at TBWA\Chiat\Day in Playa del Rey, Calif., where as a cd he ran the Nissan business and contributed to the Mars account in New York. Like LePlae, he will be based at McCann in San Francisco, which the agency considers its North American leadership hub.

At McCann, the 38-year-old Detweiler also becomes a member of the network's global creative collective, a 13-member group representing all of the geographies and disciplines of McCann Worldgroup.

Mirroring LePlae's management oversight, Detweiler will have responsibility for the creative product in all McCann-branded agencies in the region, excluding McCann New York, and including McCann Erickson San Francisco, McCann Erickson Detroit, McCann Erickson Los Angeles and McCann Erickson Canada.

"Curt is digitally savvy, has an exceptional creative pedigree and a diverse background rich with international experience," LePlae said in a statement. "He is the ideal person to take on this important new creative role as we reorganize to become a more modern, integrated and nimble agency in North America."

Over the past 15 years, Detweiler has worked in Paris, Tokyo, New York, Singapore, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, on clients such as Adidas, Cadillac, ESPN, Gatorade, Haagen-Dazs, Kanebo Foods, Kellogg's, McDonald's, Reebok and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.