Mcgarrybowen New York has expanded its strategic leadership team again with the addition of chief strategy officer Conner Huber and the promotion of Phil Gaughran, who previously held that role, to the newly created position of chief integration officer.
Huber joins mcgarrybowen after serving as head of brand strategy at Goodby Silverstein & Partners New York, where she oversaw all of that office's accounts and led strategy for the Comcast/Xfinity "Emily's Oz" campaign, which aired during the 2014 Academy Awards. She previously held similar roles at Detroit's Commonwealth//McCann, Wieden + Kennedy, Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Fallon, where she helped develop and launch campaigns for such clients as Nike, Chevrolet and Burger King.
In the new role, she will report to mcgarrybowen global chief strategy officer Jennifer Zimmerman, who calls her "a born leader" with "strong emotional intuition," adding, "Her experience working for top creative agencies and her track record in developing amazing ideas are tremendous assets."
The new CSO had been freelancing since GS&P closed its New York office last summer due, in large part, to the failure of Comcast's proposed merger with Time Warner.
Gaughran joined mcgarrybowen New York in 2009 as planning director at creative branding agency Planit and moved up through the department to become chief strategy officer in 2014.
In the newly created role, he will report directly to U.S. CEO Simon Pearce, who describes the position as key to the agency's overall progress in a statement: "To thrive in our ever-evolving and fragmented marketing landscape, we see a new imperative for an open ecosystem that brings partners and platforms together to work against one holistic creative solution with the lead agency at the helm. We have created this new role to lead the building and development of talent, capabilities, and partnerships for this open ecosystem and to further strengthen our role as an innovative creative leader with our clients."
Mcgarrybowen's last major leadership change came last December when Pearce moved from president to chief executive, Ned Crowley of Chicago became chief creative officer and Zimmerman took on the dual role of chief strategy officer globally and within the U.S.