m/SIX has hired Alistair MacCallum, former CEO at Omnicom’s M2M, as its UK Chief Executive, allowing Jess Burley to focus on her role as Global CEO.
m/SIX, which is a joint venture between The&Partnership and GroupM, experienced strong growth across both Europe and North America in 2016, adding new clients including Villa Maria, Arconic, Blu, Malaysia Airlines, Puressentiel and Simplify Digital to a portfolio already including TalkTalk, Britvic, JUST EAT, News UK and Virgin Money.
This period of expansion culminated in The&Partnership’s £240m full-service Toyota win in November last year, with m/SIX taking on the pan-European media planning and buying responsibilities for both Toyota and Lexus.
Jess Burley, Global Chief Executive at m/SIX, said: “Alistair brings with him an incredible CV, and will play an important role in building on our continued growth in the UK, helping establish us as a major contender and making a valuable contribution to our clients and our agency culture. He is well-known and loved throughout the industry and we’re extremely lucky to have him join us.”
MacCallum said: “I am thrilled to have been given the opportunity to shape the future and realise the potential of a business that is already enjoying such rapid growth. The combination of a truly integrated independent agency network, aligned with the strength of WPP, means there are incredible foundations in place to deliver against the clear ambition for the business that exists across The&Partnership and GroupM. Their shared vision for m/SIX’s future is very compelling. I am looking forward to taking the UK business to the next level.”
MacCallum worked at M2M from 2005 to 2016, progressing from Managing Director to Chief Executive, as well as sitting on the board for Omnicom Media Group. Before M2M, he held senior roles at Universal McCann and Mediahead Ltd (previously CDP Media), having begun his career at BRMB and Zenith. He has worked across brands including Paddy Power, Lidl, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, BMW, Honda, Brown Forman, General Mills, Cereal Partners, Panasonic, BT, Hewlett Packard and Columbia Tristar.
m/SIX, which has 30 offices worldwide, will be launching in 16 new regions across Europe in 2017 to service Toyota, working as part of The&Partnership’s data-analytics-powered &Toyota network. The agency also continues to grow from strength to strength in North America, where it doubled in size in 2017
