McCann Worldgroup has announced the appointment of Lalita Koehler as the global president of Craft, the network’s global creative production agency. Craft, known for its expertise in content creation, digital, print, broadcast, and transcreation, operates with a team of over 1,300 professionals across 120 countries.
This strategic hire underscores McCann Worldgroup’s commitment to investing in creativity and top-tier talent amid a period of accelerated innovation and a creative renaissance in the production industry. This follows McCann Worldgroup’s recent strategic partnership with [Ai]magination, a prominent AI content production studio.
Koehler brings over 20 years of industry experience to Craft from her previous role at Publicis Groupe, where she served as chief production officer of Publicis Productions (PXP) since 2021. During her tenure at Publicis, Koehler led several modernization initiatives, including centralizing business units, establishing centers of creative excellence, enhancing connectivity across content hubs, and implementing real-time production dashboards for employees and clients.
Before her time at Publicis, Koehler was the head of production and chief operating officer at Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles, from 2015 to 2023, where she managed the Toyota account. Her work on Toyota’s “Start Your Impossible” campaign for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Games earned over 100 awards, including Cannes Lions and Effies. Her extensive brand experience spans Yahoo!, Dom Pérignon, Myspace, AT&T, Walmart, Ubisoft, and Apple, among others.
REELated:
“During this pivotal moment in our industry, with most conversations circling around technology, it is more important than ever to bring the right talent into our organization—people with the skills and the passion to keep pushing the creative product in every field. Lalita Koehler has all the qualities, vision, and experience to run our production unit Craft. We have crossed paths in the past, and we share an optimistic and ambitious vision of the production role right now and for the future. I’m so looking forward to working with Lalita again,” said Javier Campopiano, global chief creative officer, McCann Worldgroup and McCann.
“McCann Worldgroup and Craft are focused on bringing creativity to life in ways that are truly unique in the industry. This opportunity merges all my experience and passion to innovate into one global role. From the beginning, I fell in love with the Craft vision,” said Koehler.
Daryl Lee, global chief executive officer of McCann Worldgroup, added, “Lalita is a world-class leader in creative production with an impressive track record and depth of experience. Her career embodies Craft’s promise to bring ‘creativity to life’ using all the methods and leading technologies of the 21st century. We’re excited for her to join us to drive production excellence across our entire company.”
Koehler will commence her new role in early June, reporting to Kate MacNevin, global chief operating officer of McCann Worldgroup and global chairwoman and chief executive officer of MRM.
Reel 360 News wishes Lalita the best of luck in her new role.
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