McCann Fills Out Its Top Management

Under newly named managing director Gunnar Wilmot, McCann-Erickson’s Troy, Mich., office is continuing to make changes in its management organization.
Gene Hunt has been named a senior vice president and group account director on GMC trucks, joining John Barczyk, who was named a group account director on GMC several weeks ago. Hunt brings 17 years of automotive expertise to McCann and will be responsible for pickups, vans and commercial trucks, while Barczyk exclusively handles sport-utility vehicles.
Both report to Roger Groves, senior vice president and managing director. Hunt replaces George Bak, who is being reassigned within McCann’s Troy office.
Hunt most recently was at Ogilvy and Mather in Detroit, where he was responsible for Ford customer service brand marketing and advertising activities. Previous to that, he spent 10 years with Grey Advertising, where he worked on the Mitsubishi account. He began his career at Young & Rubicam, Detroit, working on the Lincoln-Mercury business.
Additionally, Joseph Capinigro was named McCann’s executive media director, bringing with him 15 years of media experience at BBDO, Southfield, Mich., most recently as director of all Dodge dealer association media planning nationwide.
He also has served as director of media planning at PentaCom, Chrysler Corp.’s media buying agency and an Omnicom Group sister agency to BBDO. Capinigro–who succeeds Bill Behrmann, who left the agency–will oversee media planning and will work closely with General Motors’ MediaWorks arm, which executes media buys for all the automaker’s divisions.
Wilmot said there will be an increased emphasis on media planning at the agency under the leadership of Capinigro, whom he called, “a media strategist who understands the complexity of today’s media market.”