Chad Ackley, who was EVP/ECD at the Detroit offices of MDC’s Doner, is no longer with the agency as of this week.
A spokesperson confirmed when asked that Ackley and Doner have parted ways but provided no more details on the move.
Ackley joined Doner in May of 2013, and in the memo announcing his hire, co-CEO/CCO Rob Strasberg (who Business Insider once included in its “50 Sexiest CEOs Alive” listicle) described him as “a big, colorful fish from San Francisco.” He replaced Murray White, who is now an ECD for BMW Dentsu in Melbourne, Australia.
Ackley spent more than a decade at DDB’s Bay Area office, ascending to the GCD position before leaving for Detroit; previous roles include a stint at Leo Burnett Chicago. While with Doner, he worked on campaigns for such clients as JCPenney, Serta, UPS and Minute Maid.
At the moment, we don’t know why Ackley left or where he plans to go next–but we do expect to hear more staffing news from Doner later this month.
The agency has already hired an unnamed creative director from another Midwestern agency that may or may not go by the initials LB to fill the newly open position.
Expect an announcement to come in the next few days.