McCann hires 150 in Birmingham, plans to do it again

What recession? That's what the people at McCann-Erickson's Detroit office are asking these days now that the advertising agency has gone on a serious hiring binge that doesn't look like it will let up anytime soon.

McCann Worldgroup, located in downtown Birmingham, now rounds out to 400 employees and 10 interns after hiring 150 people in the last year. It expects to keep hiring at that pace for the foreseeable future, hopefully adding 150 more within the next year.

"We're going to continue looking for more national accounts outside of Detroit, primarily of companies based in the Midwest," says Garry Neel, president and CEO of McCann Worldgroup.

The company achieved this growth at a time when local ad agencies are struggling or worse by diversifying its client base. It counts not only General Motors as a customer, but also Karmanos Cancer Institute, Travel Michigan (the award-winning Pure Michigan campaign) and the German-based Aldi grocery store chain.

"We handle their U.S. operations," Neel says. "We won that account last year."

Most of its hires have been primarily in the digital area. McCann handles everything from Internet marketing to website construction to smart phone applications. It recently handled all of the digital website production for GM's divisions.

Source: Garry Neel, president and CEO of McCann Worldgroup
Writer: Jon Zemke