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McCann-Erickson is boosting its planning department by a third to

reflect the growing emphasis placed on the discipline by the worldwide

network.

The arrival of four new senior planners, which increases the department

to 12 members of staff, is in line with the agency’s aim of broadening

its planning offering with a mix of marketing and communication

skills.

Marc LePere, the McCann strategic planning director, said the four

hirings - including two from Publicis - had ’a mix of skills and

expertise and have been chosen to complement our existing team’.

McCann has acknowledged that its worldwide planning capability needed to

be improved and the appointments are the latest in a process that began

almost six years ago.

’The appointments underline our firm belief in planning culture as we

continue to shape ourselves for the future,’ Ben Langdon, the chief

executive of McCann in London, commented. ’They also reflect a

reinvigoration of the planning function in McCann on a worldwide

basis.’

The two former Publicis staff are Leigh Stops, who spent five years at

the agency as a planning director, and Runa Haque, its former head of

information.

Stops worked on Ballantine’s whisky, Beefeater gin, Oracle,

Hewlett-Packard and Yahoo! He had earlier spells at Yellowhammer and

Allen Brady & Marsh.

Haque was previously a research executive at BMRB International and won

a prize for the launch of the Volkswagen Lupo as part of the Institute

of Practitioners in Advertising’s campaign planning course.

They are joined by Cathy Samson, who spent ten years at Levi Strauss &

Co as marketing communications manager for the Asia Pacific region, and

Alexander Ferguson, a former MMHL senior planner working on Lever, Bass

Worldwide, Norwich Union and Bauer Publishing.