Welcome to the new McCann. When McCann first opened its doors in Australia in 1959, it was among the first multinational agencies to do so. The agency went on to create some of Australia’s most enduring campaigns like Louie the Fly, The Milky Bar Kid, It’s Time for the Australian Labor Party and even the iconic Coke Sign in Sydney’s Kings Cross. And of course more recent classics like Dumb Ways To Die. With the new millennium, McCann Australia reinvented itself with a reverse-takeover of independent creative agency SMART. Dubbed the new-age agency by B&T Magazine and “one of the best known independent advertising success stories in Australia” by AdNews, SMART merged with McCann to create a more digital, contemporary and more integrated creative Australian operation. And SMART’s leadership became McCann’s new management team under SMART CEO Ben Lilley. McCann Australia was soon Agency of the Year at D&AD, London International, Spikes Asia, Campaign Asia, Campaign Brief, Mumbrella and AWARD. McCann also made Australian history when it was named both the world’s most awarded agency and Australia’s most effective agency, for work including the globally acclaimed Dumb Ways to Die. Now McCann has made Australian history once again, with its transition to private ownership under Ben Lilley as its Creative Chairman and owner. Creating a new agile and entrepreneurial McCann, seamlessly aligned with McCann’s global model, but now operating as a local Australian independent.