ECD Jon Flannery Returns to FCB Chicago as Liz Taylor Builds Her Creative Team

By Patrick Coffee 

FCB veteran Jon Flannery has come back to the Windy City in the first big move made by new chief creative officer Liz Taylor, who took over for Todd Tilford last month.

Flannery returns to the EVP/ECD role at FCB Chicago on October 1st after leading the network’s Toronto office for the past two years.

The release tells us that he will work with Taylor to elevate the office’s creative and win new business. In a statement, the newly installed CCO said, “I have always been a big Jon Flannery fan and feel very lucky to have him back in Chicago. He’s a culture builder, a creative talent and the kind of leader that brings out the best in everyone. He will continue to raise the bar and make us all better.”

Advertisement

Flannery was promoted to chief creative officer in Toronto two summers ago following the success of “Ship My Pants,” with Dan Fietsam stepping in to take his EVP/ECD role; the latter executive left FCB last fall and later moved to Laughlin Constable as chief creative officer in June.

Regarding his return to Chicago, Flannery said, “The chance to work with Liz and Michael to build upon the momentum of the last couple of years, and in a city like Chicago . . . there’s nothing better than that.”

Global CCO Susan Credle also praised the work he did in Toronto: “Under his stewardship, FCB Toronto has had its best awards results in 10 years and was nominated twice for Digital Agency of the Year by Strategy Magazine. Jon cares deeply about FCB and our clients and he’s excited to be returning to Chicago.  I can’t wait to see what he and Liz do together.”

Flannery, who will presumably help oversee work on all accounts at FCB’s largest North American office, spent many years in Chicago including nearly a decade with Leo Burnett, where he worked on Philip Morris and other major accounts.

FCB Canada promoted a new leadership team to coincide with his departure.

Moving forward, FCB Toronto CEO Tyler Turnbull will become chief executive of the entire Canadian operation, which also includes FCB Montreal, FCB Toronto Health, FCB/SIX, Segal Licensing and Fuel Advertising. His predecessor Tim Bowen, who joined FCB Canada along with Turnbull two years ago after serving as SVP/GM at Cossette, will now hold the chairman title.

On the creative side, FCB Toronto has promoted Nancy Crimi-Lamanna and Jeff Hilts to serve as co-chief creative officers in Flannery’s place. They had been VP/CD and VP/creative group head, respectively.

“Over the past two years, Tim and Tyler have managed to reinvigorate FCB Toronto and FCB Canada,” said global CEO Carter Murray in a statement. “They’ve hired amazing new talent and put creativity at the center of their operations … Since joining FCB in 2014, Tyler, with his business partners Jon and Shelley, have managed and led the transformation of FCB Toronto to make it one of FCB’s top-performing creative agencies.”

Advertisement