Today in Competing Press Releases news, approximately one hour passed between the time we learned that EVP Lance Saunders would be promoted to president of DDB Canada and that his predecessor David Leonard would become CEO of MacLaren McCann.
Here’s Leonard, whose resume includes a stint atop the Canadian offices of Arnold Worldwide:
He will succeed Doug Turney, who earned the standard “leaving to pursue new opportunities within the industry” treatment. Leonard now overseas all of the agency’s North-of-the-border operations and reports to McCann Worldgroup President Luca Lindner.
Leonard started his agency career working in accounts at JWT and DDB (top clients Pepsi and McDonald’s, respectively) before he graduated to running Arnold’s Canadian operations and then went back to DDB as president and COO.
Saunders (above) has a history in planning: he spent more than two decades working in that department for Leo Burnett Canada before running strategy at Campbell Mithun. The release tells us that DDB hired him after “an extensive global search in 2010.”
Saunders reports to Frank Palmer, CEO and Chairman of DDB Canada, who credits his “creative way of looking at business” with “re-energiz[ing] the culture within our Vancouver office” and references DDB’s interest in “promoting from within.”
He’s right that DDB Canada recently recorded some big new business wins and staffing changes; last September the agency swiped Volkswagen from Red Urban, and less than two weeks later it named Cosmo Campbell CCO before hiring Etienne Bastien of TBWA to serve as VP/creative director in its still-new Montreal office.