The Motherication of McCann carries on apace with the appointment of Zaid Al-Zaidy as CEO from chief strategy officer.
Al-Zaidy (left) was previously CSO at TBWA London but before that worked with Co-CCOs (sorry for all these C-suites) Rob Doubal and Laurence Thomson at Mother in London.
McCann CCO Linus Karlsson is also an ex-Mother (New York co-founder in his case) so it’s pretty clear what his vision is for the agency in London. Al-Zaidy replaces Chris McDonald who has gone to be president of McCann New York.
Al-Zaidy began his career at Unilever where he became a leading light on the Axe/Lynx account before becoming strategy director at mother. He also worked in a senior planning role at RKCR/Y&R before joining TBWA.
Co-CCO Laurence Thomson says: “What we like about Zaid is that he’s worked both agency and client side, so he offers perspective and insight, and he’s driven by the desire to make amazing creative work. It’s a pretty powerful combination of strategic expertise and passion for ideas that really cuts through. Zaid shares our ambition for McCann and we are massively excited to have him alongside us.“
Despite endless agonising over creative standards and numerous management changes McCann London has stayed firmly in the top two or three London agencies by billings for years. If it can start picking up a few awards it may yet challenge AMV/BBDO for top spot.
