BBH CEO Steps Down

CEO Gwyn Jones, who spent an impressive 27 years in various roles at BBH, will step down almost exactly two years after Publicis took full ownership of the agency. He will be replaced by current BBH COO/former Unilever marketing heavyweight Neil Munn (above).

Adweek tells us that the move came as something of a surprise, but BBH chairman Simon Sherwood explained everything, saying that the agency chose to continue the trend of hiring CEOs from the client side because Munn “has proper marketing and comms pedigree” and he’s “highly commercial with a deep understanding of client organizations.”

As a reminder of the departing Jones’s leadership style, here’s his extensive note on a round of layoffs that occurred in 2012.

In Cannes news we missed, this announcement also taught us that Jones and the BBH team recently helped launch a production studio with Scooter Braun, otherwise known as the man who should be Justin Bieber’s legal guardian.

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BBH Finally Finds New North American CEO

It took six months and change, but BBH has finally selected a new CEO for North America in Patrick Lafferty, who joins said agency after spending two-and-a-half years at McCann and the last 18 months as its North American COO. Lafferty replaces Greg Andersen, who was one of those affected by BBH’s major “restructuring” last fall. Lafferty, who will officially assume his CEO title at BBH this summer and based out of its New York office, rounds out a leadership team that includes CCO John Patroulis, CSO Sarah Watson and chairman, Emma Cookson.

Lafferty’s soon-to-be boss, BBH Group CEO Gwyn Jones, says in a statement, “Patrick has a really calm authority and such a rich body of experience. He has seen and done a lot both within and beyond our industry – embracing client side, media ownership and the military. We have great strategic and creative strength in the business, and I think Pat will bring outstanding leadership to that offering. On top of all that – I think he is just a great person.”

As you’d expect, Lafferty, who was, yes, a former platoon leader/company commander in the U.S. Army, will be tasked with running both BBH New York, which of course handles Axe and now Playstation, and L.A., which services clients including Red Bull. During his career, the exec has also worked on the account side at Leo Burnett and as CMO at Travel Channel.

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