Ben Lightfoot appointed CEO of McCann Worldgroup Singapore

Ben Lightfoot has been appointed CEO of McCann Worldgroup Singapore, taking the reins from Tony Savarimuthu, who oversaw the agency’s Singapore operations for the past 12 months. Savarimuthu will continue to focus on his role as CEO of McCann Worldgroup Malaysia and his other industry commitments. 

Lightfoot joined the McCann network in 2008 and was instrumental in establishing and growing the operations of the group’s office in New Zealand. While running McCann New Zealand operations over the past two years, Lightfoot has also sat on the Australasian Board of McCann Worldgroup and is the chairman of the Australia New Zealand Creative Council.

Michael McLaren, regional director of McCann Worldgroup Asia-Pacific, said, “Ben has done a great job in New Zealand and has helped us build a thriving and creative business there. He is one of the rising stars in our network and I am excited to see him move into Singapore. We understand that Singapore is a key market and regional hub and it is vitally important to our operations that we continue to invest there.”

Lightfoot started his career in advertising in the creative department as an art director, working across all of the creative disciplines including brand, retail, direct and digital with BKP Leo Burnett, Ogilvy and Ogilvy One. He has won a multitude of international and national creative awards along the way.

“My goal is to ensure that McCann Worldgroup Singapore will consistently be at the forefront of innovation, reacting quickly to market momentum both in Singapore and beyond,” Lighfoot said.

He added that the group will strengthen their offering with key investments in people, technology, shopper sciences and digital innovation.

“Our emphasis will be on utilising a strong strategic framework to create impactful and innovative marketing solutions for our clients, ensuring that they are optimally positioned in the increasingly competitive Asian marketing environment. This focus combined with Nick Brien’s drive and passion for creativity makes this a really exciting time for the McCann Worldgroup network,” he said.

Sue-Ellen Craig will succeed Lightfoot in overseeing McCann’s New Zealand operations as general manager of Auckland.