Lee Daley, McCann-Erickson's former chief strategic officer for the
Middle East, Europe and Africa, is poised to join WPP as the chief
executive of Red Cell Network.
Daley left McCann in July and his hiring by WPP comes as the holding
company finalises negotiations to buy the New York-based Berlin Cameron
& Partners. If the deal goes through, the independent agency will help
Red Cell bolster its US presence.
Berlin Cameron's co-founder, Andy Berlin, would take the chairman's role
at Red Cell with Daley replacing Luca Lindner as the chief
executive.
Lindner takes the top European role at D'Arcy.
Before accepting the Red Cell job, Daley was close to accepting an offer
from Leo Burnett to take a senior UK role, thought to be that of group
UK chairman.
The news of Daley's hiring and the unconfirmed acquisition of Berlin
Cameron comes barely two weeks after a culling of senior management at
Red Cell's UK office. Julian Saunders, formerly the chief executive,
becomes the European strategic planning director, but John Trainor, the
creative director, Simon Frank, the executive creative director, and
Michelle Katz, the new-business director, have all left.
Stuart Burnett, the creative director of Perspectives Red Cell, has
taken creative control of the agency, which is temporarily being run by
an executive committee including the chief operating officer John
Wringe, the managing director, Nick Kerr, and Red Cell's chief financial
officer Kathryn Herrick.
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