McCann Worldgroup Australia acquires Smart – to become McCann Erickson Australia – Lilley replaces Mort as CEO of combined operation
McCann Worldgroup Australia announced today the acquisition of Australasian indy agency Smart. The combined operation will make McCann Erickson one of Australia’s largest agencies.
The new entity assumes the name McCann Erickson Australia and will operate in the current McCann Worldgroup offices.
SMART is owned and led by CEO Ben Lilley (above centre), Executive Creative Director John Mescall (above left) and Managing Partner and National Planning Director Ashley Farr (above right).
In effect a reverse takeover, Effective immediately, Ben Lilley assumes the role as Chief Executive Officer of the combined operation, replacing Chris Mort. Ashley Farr will oversee the Sydney office and lead the planning discipline. McCann Sydney ECD Michael Raso (left), who joined from New York in December last year, will now have to report to Mescall – which may cause a clash of styles.
SMART has offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland and has a range of local and global clients including adidas, ANZ Bank, Coca Cola, Dulux, Ferrero, Levi’s, News Limited, SEEK, Specsavers, Unilever, Vodafone and numerous government agencies.
Commenting on the leadership transition, Mort said: “McCann is an organization with a tremendous global heritage. Ben and the outstanding team at SMART are an exceptional complement to our network and this partnership will give McCann Worldgroup locally every opportunity to realize its capabilities.”
Charles Cadell, Regional Managing Director McCann Worldgroup SEA and Australasia commented: “SMART has an amazing reputation and is famous for its irreverent, youthful and exuberant advertising and its vibrant media footprint. The collective genius of SMART’s exceptional local expertise combined with the scale of McCann Worldgroup provides an even greater foundation to produce groundbreaking work from the local to the global stage. SMART considers itself a “borderless” agency that fits in seamlessly with the McCann Worldgroup mission of integration.”
CEO Ben Lilley said: “SMART has proudly been an independent agency with an outstanding track record of growth and creative excellence over the last ten years. Uniting with McCann Worldgroup was the perfect next step in our evolution. Our aspirations, vision and principles are absolutely aligned. The combined competencies of our agencies coupled with the global footprint of McCann Worldgroup creates an unrivalled strategic and creative offering across the Australian and New Zealand markets.”
34 Comments
Ka-ching!!
Two companies now heading nowhere together. Congratulations!
What is Mort going to do… play golf?
Congratulations Ben well done.
You just had to turn up your collar didn’t you John.
Well done guys.
“creative excellence”….ummm, no.
Bensational
I remember when McCann was interesting they did amazing work for Coca Cola and Levis…. I think Hawke was prime minister.
Just what McCanns needs… to be bigger.
Can’t wait to see the creative ‘clash of styles’ this will be fun…….who’s in charge now!
both dud agencies = 2 times the dudness
by by McCann ECD
Is Scott going back to take over McCann Sydney then?
Taking over McCann is a real achievement – like catching herpes
Huge win for the McCann creatives, they desperately need new creative leadership.
You can tell a recession is coming when the players start cashing in their chips
McEnroe said it all
What’s Ron Taylor up to? Survived the cull?
Looks like he might start hearing some of his own catch phrases. “who do YOU report to?”
Wonder how the incumbent ECD will like others adding THEIR layers to HIS work ? Don’t loose it champ.
Looks like a cold change might be coming to McCann. Better wear a warm scarf.
If you have to tell people you’re smart, you’re probably stupid.
Smart has seek as a client? Really? Its just not true.
I’m confused. Exactly who are Smart’s current clients?
McCanns needs to be smart.
adidas, levi’s, Seek, News Limited, ANZ, Ferrero..really? Tell ’em they’re dreaming. Who is ACTUALLY on the client list?
Thank you for the comments – good to see most are supportive. An important clarification though:
In the McCann Worldgroup press release that prompted this article, the clients named above were not provided as the agency’s current client list but were listed as part of an overview of SMART’s work and experience since the agency’s launch in 2000.
Of these clients, we continue to work with adidas, Coca Cola, Dulux, Specsavers, Unilever and numerous government agencies.
Thanks Ben and good luck.
Ashley Farr looks like a younger Christ Mort. Probably a bad sign….
“Of these clients, we continue to work with adidas, Coca Cola, Dulux, Specsavers, Unilever and numerous government agencies.”
I don’t think so
$mart.
It’s business 1A.Smart was not a viable business.And it took a dumb agency like McCanns to buy them.Gottem outa jail .Well done Smart.
This will be interesting.
McCann needed something, a bit of private company hunger maybe.
The combined group just needs to sit back and think about what they want to stand for and then take that to market, create interest and get on pitch lists.
As long as Ron Taylor is still in the picture, everything will be OK.
You can only dodge it for so long, Tough Guy. You’ll be missed.