Aussie expat adman Marc Burns promoted to managing director role at BBDO San Francisco

BBDO announced today that Aussie expat Marc Burns has been promoted from group account director to managing director of BBDO San Francisco.

In his new role, Burns will be responsible for driving growth for the agency, in addition to continuing to serve as the senior account lead on select Mars brands, Tourism Australia and other businesses handled out of San Francisco. He will report to Jim Lesser, president and CEO of the office.

“Marc has had an important impact since joining us in San Francisco last year,” said Lesser. “He has had leadership roles with multiple BBDO agencies across the network and worked in a wide range of challenging categories. He’s a great addition to our senior management team.”

Burns started his career in 1996 in the mailroom at Clemenger BBDO in Australia. Since then, he has grown to take on management roles within the agency network, including at BBDO Atlanta and New York, where he was SVP, group account director on AT&T Wireless.

On his watch, AT&T enjoyed four successive years of subscriber and profit growth and the agency produced popular and award-winning work including the “Shout it from the Mountaintop” campaign for Valentine’s Day and the “You’ve got a Case” youth effort starring Will Arnett. 

In 2012, Burns relocated to BBDO San Francisco where, among other accomplishments, he led the successful pitch for the Tourism Australia business for that office.

Burns assumes his new position immediately, joining Lesser, Craig Mangan, executive creative director, and Matt Herrmann, director of strategic planning, as a member of the agency’s senior management team.