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Renetta McCann will be missed

Posted in Media, Marketing, Arif Durrani, Latest reporters' blogs June 10th, 2008 by Arif Durrani

The media agency world is set to become a slightly less interesting place by the end of this year, following today’s news that Renetta McCann is stepping down as global chief executive of Starcom MediaVest Group.

In a fast changing media landscape, accelerated by the seismic shifts of convergence and globalisation, McCann brought a refreshing no nonsense approach to marketing that has helped set the new agenda.

I first came across the CEO at an international magazine conference held in New York three years ago; an introduction that provided a good insight into her psyche.

Sitting alongside nearly a thousand publishing executives from more than 50 countries at the Waldorf Astoria, few of us from outside the US knew what to expect from the recently appointed global leader.

Billed as one of the keynote speakers, McCann’s presentation was sandwiched between some of the most respected and vociferous advocates of print media. Her ensuing 25 minute speech sent shock waves throughout the room and beyond.

“Screens reign supreme,” was her message; a clear yet potentially devastating sound bite for the interpreters to relay.

Her premise was simple: the magazine industry needed to rethink the way it connects with the consumer in a multimedia, 24/7, digital world if it is to survive.

Speaking with unnerving insight for 2005, the CEO foresaw a world dominated by wireless devices and DVRs, and punctuated by the growth of on-demand and the saturation of broadband.

Video assets were becoming ubiquitous, she said, pointing to linear television, video billboards, broadband video, mobile phones and the like. She saw a world increasingly dominated by ‘my media’, where media agnostic consumers created their own entertainment.

Her language was strong and the message was clear. Publishers were mindful the CEO was already responsible for investing more than $12 billion each year, and I know many immediately took on board the wake-up call it was intended to be.

McCann managed to prevent being lynched the moment she left the stage by cushioning her vision with the belief that magazine content remained key. She urged publishers to make their content “liquid” and let the readers soak it up, warning: “You can’t stand still and stay alive”.

It was timely, emotive stuff, and just what needed to be heard by many of the greying decision-makers.

I haven’t been surprised by the reputation McCann has gone on to forge for herself at the helm of SMG. As incoming replacement Laura Desmond already noted in today’s statement, they are “tremendously large shoes to fill”.