Commonwealth//McCann Global ECD Joins Facebook

By Patrick Coffee 

Today in News That McCann Doesn’t Think Is News, another ad industry veteran has moved to what is (arguably) the world’s most powerful tech company/cult of personality.

Rick Dennis joins Facebook’s team in Detroit after spending less than eight months in the global ECD role at Commonwealth//McCann. Back in January, the agency told the world that it had promoted a trio of creatives including Mr. Dennis. The biggest news at the time was that Matt Canzano would be deputy global CCO, but North American CDs Dennis and Tim Teegarden also earned global ECD titles as the agency hired four new creative directors to work under them.

Dennis joined Commonwealth at its inception after working as an ECD on GS&P’s Detroit team, which was absorbed when General Motors switched to IPG in 2013. Prior gigs include positions at BBDO Detroit (which also no longer exists) and J. Walter Thompson.

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This is not a new trend: over the past couple of years, Facebook has hired such ad industry vets as JWT’s head of research Ann Mack, Moxie’s creative leader Chris Gomersall, and quite a few others whose names we don’t have time to search for right now.

We have no information at the moment on what Dennis will be doing for Facebook, exactly, but we assume he will help agencies learn to better use the service, which former gubernatorial candidate Tim Wu believes should be paying us for all of our invaluable behavioral data.

When it comes to poaching talent, though, Zuckerberg is still far behind his arch-enemies at Google (which hired former Team Detroit ECD Scott Lange, among others, last year). Granted, they do have a few years on him.

This has been another slow news day post.

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