McCann London has strengthened its strategy department with the appointment of Aaron Harridge as its new head of strategy and Jonathan Brown as its new head of strategic product.
Harridge and Brown’s appointments are the first made by the agency’s chief strategy officer Mel Arrow since her arrival in June 2023. Both recruits will report in to her.
In his new role, Harridge will work with Arrow to build the strategy department and will play a key role in talent acquisition, resource management and improving the working culture.
“Aaron is a brilliant new addition to McCann. He is ambitious, fun and a magnet for modern ideas. I’m made up that he is (literally and metaphorically) crossing the road to join us,” Arrow said.
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“I’m also extremely pleased to be promoting JB into a new role that makes even better use of his entrepreneurial and innovative mind. This is a new leadership formation that I’m excited about, designed to expand the remit of strategy and attract the best talent.”
Joining from Droga5, Harridge has worked for some of the world’s top agencies and delivered ideas for a range of major global brands including MailChimp, LEGO, Spotify, Uber Eats and American Express.
Promoted from his role as McCann London’splanning partner, Brown will be entrusted with findings new ways to leverage the proprietary data and insight tools within the McCann Worldgroup network, unlocking growth with the creation of new strategic products as a result.
Harridge added: “McCann London has mastered the ever-so-hard-to-achieve magic formula of populism and cultural edge. From world famous, wildly entertaining and category leading work for Just Eat and Xbox – through to shining a light on the realities of youth violence with a posthumous Depzman music video launched on SBTV. I am in this industry because of the inspiration I get from work like this. I can’t wait to start building with this incredible team.”
