• by Steve McClellan , January 9, 2019

McCann Worldgroup has appointed Simon Sikorski as CEO of its Canadian operation, part of a broader management restructuring for the region. 

Sikorski, most recently Chief Client Officer at MWG’s Craft production network and a former global client business leader at the agency, is replacing David Leonard, who is leaving the group. 

Two other members of MWG Canada’s senior leadership team are leaving and their posts are being eliminated: Chief Creative Officer Darren Clarke and Chief Strategy Officer Mary Chambers. 

According to the agency, the changes are designed to allow each agency within the group to compete within their specialist offerings and more easily collaborate as needed for pitches and client work. 

The agencies within MWG Canada include McCann, MRM//McCann, Craft, Momentum and McCann Health which operate across offices in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. 

Under the new leadership structure, each agency will be responsible to both the North America regional agency leader and to Sikorski as the country leader. 

Chris Macdonald, global president advertising and allied agencies, McCann Worldgroup, stated, “Canada is an incredibly important market for us, and we believe there is massive opportunity for us to grow and develop our capabilities here. To do this, we have decided we need to follow some of our biggest and most successful markets, like the UK, Spain and Japan, and move to a structure that gives our clients access to the best talent and the ability to better take advantage of our agencies."

He added that the move “aligns resources across each agency more effectively with each of their global structures for our clients.” 

A 25-year veteran of the industry, Sikorski was part of the team that established Craft in 2012. He’s worked with clients like Mastercard, Microsoft, L’Oréal and Staples to develop custom advertising production models. 

Prior to joining Craft, Sikorski worked in the UK as a managing partner for McCann London, leading integrated agency teams for global brands like Intel and ExxonMobil.