• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, September 9, 2014

Media agency veteran Andrew McLean has joined direct response powerhouse Mercury Media as CEO. He succeeds John Barnes, who left the company last year. McLean reports to the board of the privately held Mercury, controlled by private equity firm Eos Partners.

The agency said it was shifting its headquarters to New York from Los Angeles with McLean's arrival.

Most recently, McLean ran his own media and marketing consultancy Inventus Media Partners. He was U.S CEO at Omnicom media agency PHD from 2010 to 2012.

Earlier, McLean spent a decade at WPP’s GroupM and its media agency MEC, where he was a senior client leader. His last role at GroupM was chief development officer.

McLean began his media career in publishing before entering the agency business as a television buyer in the late 1980s. Rising to a lead position at DMB&B's UK operation, he oversaw accounts like Burger King and Procter & Gamble. He then served as VP advertising and media at Disney’s Buena Vista International before joining MEC predecessor company The Media Edge.

“Andrew is the ideal individual to lead our future efforts,” said Maria Eden, president of Mercury Media. “He brings leadership expertise, strategic know-how, excellent client and talent development skills, and deep industry knowledge.”

“Success in media is all about service and performance and this is Mercury Media’s DNA,” said McLean. “I am delighted to be joining the Mercury team and look forward to helping grow our clients’ business through the increased focus on performance.”