Langdon ousted in McCann coup
Heads roll at McCann-Erickson as Langdon becomes the company’s latest high-profile casualty
Ben Langdon, the regional director of the McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, has been ousted from the agency without a job to go to. He will not be replaced.
The move follows a spate of high-level redundancies as a result of a cost-cutting exercise. Universal McCann’s executive vice-president and regional director Brian Jacobs and the McCann-Erickson chief strategic planning officer Paul Twivy left the agency in May.
It is understood that the London agency’s newly appointed chief executive Chris Hunton will also be asked to leave the agency shortly. Hunton was promoted to the role earlier this year by Langdon.
In a statement the agency’s chairman and chief executive John Dooner says: “As relates to leadership of McCann in London, the agency’s clients are well served, but we will look to supplement that management team with the appropriate talent in due course.”
Hunton’s first act as the UK chief had been to oust managing partner Chris Macleod, executive planning director Julian Saunders and the business development director Stephen Colegrave.
Langdon joined McCann London in 1996 as the chief executive. Two years later he was made chairman of the McCann-Erickson UK Group, when David Warden stepped down to take on the role of regional director, central and Eastern Europe. In 2002, Langdon was promoted to regional director of McCann-Erickson Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Warden has stepped in to replace Langdon with the new title of regional director of operations.
