• by Larissa Faw , March 7, 2018

Mcgarrybowen is appointing Patrick Lafferty as U.S. president taking over responsibilities from Simon Pearce, who recently departed the agency to join JWT as North American chief executive officer. Lafferty will report into Nick Brien, CEO, Americas, Dentsu Aegis Network beginning in the spring.

Lafferty will oversee all U.S. agency operations working alongside a leadership team that includes Jennifer Zimmerman, global chief strategy officer and Ned Crowley, U.S. chief creative officer, as well as Angela Johnson, Laurel Flatt, Tom Sebastian and John Berg, who respectively lead mcgarrybowen’s offices in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.

Mcgarrybowen is experiencing a surge of business growth fueled by account wins, including global creative AOR duties for American Express, winning back Verizon's business-to-business account, and expanding its roster with Kraft Heinz. With the recent acquisition of west coast-based digital shop Swirl, Lafferty will be tasked with helping to shape the agency's position in today's evolving media landscape.

The 25-year industry veteran joins mcgarrybowen from Translation and earlier in his career spent time at BBH, McCann and the Travel Channel.

“The power of an integrated brand platform that brings together innovative brand strategy and bold creative ideas is critical in an increasingly digital world,” said Brien. “mcgarrybowen is our largest creative agency and we need the strongest leadership in place to drive integration in today’s complex media landscape."