CB Exclusive: McCann Melbourne snares ex-BD Network CD David Ponce De León for CD role
CB Exclusive – McCann Australia has appointed David Ponce de León (left) to the role of creative director of the Melbourne office, working with newly promoted ECD Pat Baron.
Ponce de León has established a respected reputation over a successful advertising career, most recently as creative director of BD Network and through previous roles at George Patterson Y&R, Leo Burnett and Lifelounge.
His groundbreaking work has seen him awarded at every major award show with campaigns for local and international brands. For the past decade, Ponce de León has also been active in training the next generation of creative talent through his role leading the Melbourne AWARD School program and most recently as the head of ADMA Creative School.
Ponce de León’s appointment further bolsters the senior management team of McCann Melbourne following the recent appointment of Adrian Mills (right) as managing director, and comes on the back of continued success in both creative and effectiveness awards.
The past two years saw McCann Melbourne bring home a record-breaking Lions haul, including 5 Grand Prix in 2013, and this year’s Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness along with 31 more Lions. In February, the agency tied for first place in The Gunn Report and is currently the top-ranked Melbourne agency in both the Global Effies Effectiveness Index and the WARC Top 100.
New business wins for McCann this year include L’Oreal Digital, the Victorian WorkCover Authority and Pacific Brands.
Says Mills: “We’ve been patiently trying to find a replacement for the role Pat left when he was elevated to ECD. In Dave, we have a true Melbourne advertising legend. His enthusiasm and manner make him unmissable and his creativity and intense intellect are unmistakable. He is the absolute embodiment of our ‘interested and interesting’ hiring policy and we are genuinely honoured to have him onboard.”
Says Baron: “David’s one of the truly innovative thinkers in our industry today. He just gets it. His passion and creative leadership is inspiring and we couldn’t be happier that he’s joined the team. It’s a real coup that David has chosen to join us. The timing is right and it just ads to the buzz around the agency.”
Says Ponce de León: “I am very proud of what we’ve done at BD, but this is an opportunity I could not simply pass. I’ve never met a senior management team as creatively driven as Ben, Millsy and Pat and what they have achieved at McCann is the stuff dreams are made of. It is an immense privilege to be part of this team and I can’t wait to get started.”
37 Comments
Safe to assume the five they made ‘redundant’ on Friday are helping pay his wage.
Snare? What are we, fish?
Congratulations El Guapo, you’ll smash it!
Interesting hire.
However, can’t help but feel this is a PR smokescreen for their recent spate of redundancies.
Great news.
Congratulations and good luck!
Congrats David…You Rock!!
‘But why is the rum gone?’
Too many chiefs, not enough indians
Go Columbian!
Great move Dave. You’ll kill it at McCann.
Well deserved David.
David – congratulations.
Millsy – nice socks.
It’s a bloody circus at McCann. What between Millsy’s socks, Mescall riding into the sunset to take the throne in New York (and leaving his car in the car park for god knows who to dispose of) and the four creatives and one account director they sacked on Friday, and the CD that handed in her notice the same day. All it needs is a brass band and sawdust on the floor and they could charge admission. As one ex-intern was famously heard to utter “I wouldn’t work there if they paid me” (actually I just made that up).
David is an animal.
Sorry, but despite Dumb Ways to Die . . . it’s still McCann guys.
Is Northy still there?
Since Mescall departure, what have they done? Stuffed dolls for dumb ways.
Great.
David is such a lovely guy. Hope he does wonderful things, but McCann isn’t known for treating their staff well. Hopefully he’s an exception, because he deserves better than that place.
There’s nothing wrong with wearing nice socks and I am certain the car space cost is covered so why the hell not. Getting rid of 5 creatives in one day is major and sounds to me like a creative re build.
Creative rebuild…with who? The place has developed a rep for not being great to work at. Proceed with caution young ones/internationals.
I thought they brought milsy back to control the Baron not sack good talent #onehitwonder
McCann seem to have the highest turn over of staff and always negative comments. What’s with that?
I’m sure someone would like that carapace.
V
Congrats David. You’ll be great, Julian
@Just wondering – having worked in a number of agencies here and o/s, I haven’t seen a higher turnover of staff here, or any more negative comments than any other agency on this blog. Everywhere half decent seems to get its fair share.
My stint at what I thought was Melbourne’s ‘best’ creative shop was something else entirely. Unless you had a seat at the ‘main table’, the culture and work (and turnover) at that toxic hole was unlike anything i’ve seen before or since.
I for one am much happier being at an agency that actually walks the talk when it comes to its creative. For anyone looking to make their mark here (or beyond), I’d rather be at McCann right now than pretty much anywhere else you could name.
And yes- Northy is still here, The Baron is one of the best blokes I’ve ever worked with, Millsy does have odd socks and while I’ve only just met ‘Colombian’ Dave, the many positive comments about him here seem well-earned.
@Yes I work at McCann
If you’re a creative, you won’t have been there for much longer than a year. They churn ’em and burn ’em my friend. Apart from some CDs, the whole creative department has flushed through twice in the last 24 months, mostly with resignations.
Yes, the Baron is a lovely guy. Millsy’s a force of nature. And David from all accounts is the loveliest bloke you’d ever meet. But the place has an odd vibe. I was there a year and they turned over something like 25 staff. Out of 45. And this was after the merger.
Having said that, all the best. And I’m not going to follow that up with “you’ll need it.” Enjoy your Friday.
Haters going to hate. Losers going to lose. If you’re dead weight in an agency that strives to be the best, then you really need to go work somewhere that’s happy to run with the pack. The fact that the guys at McCann have set the bar high for themselves is admirable. They must be bloody mindful of ‘backing it up’ after such success. It’s a huge pressure. No one like redundancies, and they’ll never be good commentary around any agency that has to make those decisions. But let’s not kid ourselves, international agencies aren’t day care facilities for industry professionals, they’re there to make money. When New York calls, you better pay. Then pay some more. Forgetabouit! So how’re you going to compete and be the best? Aim f’n high ! Good luck to these guys, they sure as shit are going to need it, but at least they’re giving it a crack.
Are you joking, this place is a joke. It has always been a joke, it has had a revolving door for decades. Creative shop? it has won a few awards done by people no longer there. It will be lucky to survive in Melbourne. Where are the new
business wins?
Firstly Dave congratulations. I don’t know you, but the comments here suggest you deserve every success.
As for you @Machiavelli, if you have been around for as long as you imply, you’d know what a feat McCann has achieved in turning around their once shitty agency. I can’t think of an Australian agency ‘in decades’ that’s achieved the kind of reinvention or impact they have in such a short amount of time. Maybe OMON in Sydney or The Palace in Melbourne, back in your day?
Yes haters going to hate. But rather than trying to drag the industry back down to your low standards, McCann is one agency that deserves our support and congratultions for putting Australian creativity back on the world stage. It takes guts and smarts to achieve what they have. Good on em. And good luck to you Dave.
It’s advertising? Who really cares? Get a good job, do it well, make more coin than your talent base probably could in any other industry and enjoy this game for what it is.
Be as creative as your clients allow you to be, don’t use them as an excuse for crap work. Don’t blame others, be brave. Besides, It sure beats washing windows on Punt road.
PS. Columbian, good luck friend, you’re a gem.
Nice work Columbian.
Thumbs up, smiley face, devil’s horns and suggestive-inapropriate-breasts-symbol.
A CD on the outer was given a lifeline by a multinational, struck gold, took ALL the glory and got out of there (and broke a bunch of eggs along the way). Now these guys have to clean up the mess. Not only do they have head office pressure to pick up awards internationally, but BUILD a business that’s stable. I honestly wish them the best of luck. Melbourne needs as many strong agencies as possible, so our industry can thrive, and we can all continue to have jobs.
One hit wonder? If you’re going to hate, at least hate right.
Let’s see…
Guilt trips.
100 Day Challenge.
Impossible Orchestra.
Phubbing.
Too many awards to mention.
And what have you worked on? Um… Down down, your ads are down…
Melbourne’s a close creative world. We know who the people who haven’t been treated well… And… We know the guys trying to make McCann a good agency… The leadership at McCann r by no means blameless but they deserve all our respect… They’re dealing with global sharks and a small local market trying to be a global success! Good luck to them they’ll need all they can get… But haters should move on…
Dave’s a good bloke. Period.