• by Larissa Faw , April 16, 2015

Fallon Worldwide has found its new chief strategist. A few months after Michael Fanuele left the agency to become CCO at General Mills, the Publicis-owned shop has named Anette Lillegard as Chief Strategy Officer. She will lead all aspects of strategy within the organization, including oversight of the agency's account planning, connection planning, research, analytics and consulting units.

Lillegard will also help to shape the future of the company as a member of the Fallon Executive Management Team. This is a cabinet member position, say agency executives, and a mission critical role for the agency as it continues to evolve its strategic offering. She will be based at the agency's headquarters in Minneapolis. 

“We made the conscious decision to look at nontraditional candidates for our Chief Strategy Officer hire," said Fallon CEO, Mike Buchner. "With a desire to expand our current strategic offering into areas such as analytics and consulting, I’m very pleased that we have found someone with a wealth of business strategy experience and an impressive track record of success like Anette."

Lillegard's diverse background was an asset in landing this position. Prior to joining Fallon, Lillegard served as Director of Marketing with IMS Health, a healthcare data analytics company, leading the global repositioning of the organization as a service and technology provider. She has also spent time as director of marketing at Mayo Clinic, brand manager at Timex, and head of product development and design at Skagen Designs.

"Fallon’s…creative has always been the product of strategic insight and the power of imagination," says Buchner. "Those foundational principles won't change going forward, but modern marketers today need more strategic depth and business strategy capability from their agency partners than just traditional communications strategy.”

Earlier this week, Fallon was named AOR for the Big Ten Network, joining the agency's roster of clients that include Arby’s, Brown-Forman’s Woodford Reserve Bourbon and Herradura Tequila, H&R Block, IFC and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Resort & Casino.