McCRACKEN DEPARTS GREY, SHANNON TO REPRESENT OZ ON REGIONAL CREATIVE COUNCIL

Grey regional ECD Todd McCracken (pictured) is leaving the network to pursue personal business interests, coinciding with a decision to form a regional creative council to be headed by Grey's chairman and CEO/Asia Pacific, Mike Amour.
Says McCracken: “Grey has been great. I’ve enjoyed my time there and pushing the work to new levels. But my other interests have been calling and it feels like the right time in my personal growth plan to go for it. Grey’s in great hands, and we’ve set up a new Creative Council which Mike will run.”
Says Amour: “Todd has been an avid property investor and entrepreneur for years, and he has decided it’s a good time to pursue this avenue more aggressively. I am a huge supporter of anyone who wants to do their own thing. Todd has helped coach some great creative talent in the past two years, and the jump in awards has been in large part due to his influence. We wish him every success.”
Amour says the Regional Creative Council is specifically designed to leverage the company’s local creative strength and accelerate its growth.
Amour will personally chair the Regional Creative Council, reflecting the importance of Grey’s continued drive to improve its product at all levels. It will consist of the following members: Prathap Suthan, South Asia; Raj Kurup, India; Justin Lim, Singapore; Ant Shannon (pictured left), Australia; Yue Chee Guan, China; Kanji Miyagawa, Japan; Keith Ho, Hong Kong and Jeremy Powell, G2 Japan. In addition to his role as lead creative on Grey’s regional P&G business, Jeff Orr will work with Amour to facilitate the development and ongoing work of the Council.
“This group comprises some of our best cross-discipline, multi-cultural creative talent in Asia. It will be a terrific catalyst for improving Grey and G2’s creative output.”
Grey has seen a significant jump in its creative performance and awards tally in the past 12 months: Grey won 110 Gold, Silver and Bronzes in key international, regional and local awards shows in 2006, versus 60 during 2005, taking significantly more metal than ever before in the shows that count towards global recognition.