Korean network Cheil Worldwide is trying to up its game as a global player these days. Last year it bought the Iris network and now it’s hired long-serving McCann VP and ‘Global Chief Growth Officer’ Lotta Malm Hallqvist as its very own CGO. Hallqvist will be based in London.
Hallqvist (left), who founded two start-ups outside advertising in her early career, was CGO at McCann for almost four years. She worked with the McCann network for nearly 15 years with a brief stint at Mother in London along the way.
She co-founded ad agency Propaganda in 1997, which later sold to McCann. She went on to become managing director of McCann Propaganda in Norway and CEO of McCann Nordic.
Hallqvist says: “I am truly impressed with the Korean approach to business – the ‘nothing is impossible’ attitude and the focus on opportunities over problems. It’s a privilege to be part of the next chapter for Cheil, joining the team behind one of the strongest brands on the planet.”
The last point is debatable, for now anyway, but Cheil has done a good job of shedding its status as the Samsung in-house agency, although Samsung remains by far its biggest account. As well as buying Iris last year it also acquired McKinney and The Barbarian Group (TBG) in the US and completed its ownership of Beattie McGuinness Bungay in London.
