MAM
McCann Worldgroup realigns global leadership
NEW DELHI: McCann Worldgroup has realigned its senior leadership across its global agency networks. Chris Macdonald has taken on the role of chairman and CEO of McCann, the advertising agency brand, and Harjot Singh has been promoted to global chief strategy officer.
Macdonald, who previously served as president – advertising and allied brands for McCann, will now focus on leading the advertising network, along with Singh, previously chief strategy officer for McCann Worldgroup EMEA. Since its first major international expansion over 90 years ago, McCann has been recognised as a leader in global advertising.
The two global appointments follow other recent moves by incoming McCann Worldgroup CEO Bill Kolb to underline the importance of the individual agency brands in the global integrated marketing services network.
"The foundation of McCann Worldgroup, since its inception over 20 years ago, has always been to offer both best-in-class expertise through each agency and best-in-class integrated solutions to meet our clients' needs," Kolb said. "The work, the talent, and most critically, the creative effectiveness that we have been recognised for—more than any other network over the last five years—must flourish within each of our agency brands. And each of these brands has its own unique culture while all sharing the same McCann Worldgroup core mission, values, and methodologies."
Macdonald said, "I have been lucky enough to work for McCann in many different roles over the last 15 years. McCann has an incredibly rich history of creativity and innovation, partnering with some of the world's biggest and best brands and is full of fantastically talented people. I look forward to building the best future for our clients, partners and all our people around the world."
McCann Worldgroup global president & CSO Suzanne Powers said, "Harjot is one of the world's best and brightest. His strategic chops, deep passion for bringing out the best in our talented teams, and overall leadership abilities make him the perfect choice to lead McCann into the future strategically. Further, through this appointment, we now have in place the industry's top leadership across all of our agency networks, further cementing our belief that the triumvirate of leadership (creative, strategy and business) leads to best-in-class creative effective work."
Macdonald added, "Colleagues and clients consistently credit him with bringing clarity and delivering measurable impact. He has led our network in Europe to an unprecedented industry record of being ranked the most creatively effective agency network in the region for five consecutive years and I am delighted that he will be bringing that track record of success to the global McCann team."
In addition to the current promotions of Macdonald and Singh, Kolb announced that Kate MacNevin, the CEO for MRM, will add the title of chairwoman.
"Kate has one of the most passionate, deliberative and exceptional minds in all of marketing," remarked Kolb. "She is respected not just among our partners, but across every level of our organisation because of her relentless dedication and determination. I have worked with Kate for over a decade, and she has earned this role based on her historic success of advancing growth, capability expansion and overall leadership of our global MRM team."
MAM
Beacon Group appoints Dr Rajesh Patel as Group CEO
36-year healthcare veteran to lead Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek, Biogeny.
MUMBAI: A new chief, a fresh diagnosis and a sharper prescription for growth. Beacon Group has appointed Dr Rajesh Patel as its Group Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2026, signalling a decisive push to scale its presence in the diagnostics and IVD space. Patel steps into the role with 36 years of experience across the healthcare and diagnostics industry, bringing a career shaped by leadership roles spanning sales, marketing, business development and operational strategy. His mandate is both expansive and precise: to steer the group’s overall strategic direction while tightening coordination across its three core entities Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek and Biogeny Diagnostics.
In practical terms, that means driving cross-company synergies, accelerating market expansion and strengthening organisational capability areas increasingly critical as diagnostic players compete for scale in a fragmented yet rapidly evolving healthcare ecosystem. The group is positioning itself to capture unmet demand across chain laboratories, key accounts and standalone labs, segments that remain underserved despite growing diagnostic needs.
The appointment comes at a time when the In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) sector in India is entering a more competitive and innovation-led phase, with companies focusing not just on product pipelines but also on service delivery, integration and customer-centric models. Beacon’s leadership appears to be betting that Patel’s execution-focused approach can help translate ambition into operational momentum.
Welcoming the appointment, Chairman Dr D K Joshi described Patel’s induction as a strategic move aligned with the group’s long-term vision, emphasising the role of leadership depth in navigating the next phase of growth.
For Beacon Group, the message is clear, in a sector where precision matters, leadership is the new differentiator—and this appointment is intended to set the tone for what comes next.
