McCann has hired Pete Johnson as evp, global executive creative director, at its New York office. He will work with Shayne Millington and Pierre Lipton, co-chief creative officers at McCann New York.
Johnson joins McCann after spending over five years as executive creative director at Deutsch New York and more than four years at Arnold in Boston. He has created work for clients including Progressive, Reebok, Sony, Booking.com and Jack Daniel’s. Prior to Deutsch and Arnold, Johnson held senior creative roles at DigitasLBi and Tribal DDB.
“We’re thrilled to be able to add a senior creative with the talent, intelligence and taste and such a deep understanding of emotional truth that Pete has,” said Millington and Lipton in a statement. “Pete’s writing spans an impressively wide range of categories and genres—and he has a unique ability to tap into the unique voice that expresses the soul of each brand he touches.”
Johnson’s appointment continues the expansion of McCann New York’s creative operations. In November of 2021, Millington and Lipton were elevated to co-chief creative officers at the agency, overseeing creative on all accounts, including Microsoft and Mastercard. The two took on their new roles after Sean Bryan and Tom Murphy were elevated to co-chief creative officers of McCann North America. McCann also previously promoted Caprice Yu and Cristina Rodriguez Reina to global executive creative directors.
“McCann New York has been producing some of the smartest, most thoughtful creative work in the world and they have an amazing roster of innovative, risk-taking clients, so I am just thrilled to be able to join the team here,” said Johnson in a statement.