Seán Whitaker, one of the most experienced Strategic Planners in the Irish market joins McCann Erickson as Head of Planning. Seán was the first person in Ireland to adopt and formalise the discipline of advertising planning while he was working at Saatchi & Saatchi Dublin in the 80’s so perhaps he could be called the “Godfather of Irish Planning”. He went on to be Planning Director at DDFH&B and latterly was a planning consultant at Irish International BBDO where he was one of the key strategic minds behind the resurgence of the Guinness brand. He also held the position of Global Planning Director with JWT/DDFH&B on the Bailey’s brand from 1998 to 2003 where he gained considerable international experience particularly in the British, US and Spanish markets.

Whitaker has been closely involved in all the Guinness advertising produced by Irish International BBDO over the last eight years, including the current “Area 22” and “Life in the Dark” campaigns. His strategic experience in the alcohol category cannot be matched in the Irish market but he has also worked on Bank of Ireland, Aer Lingus, Unilever, Nestle, TV3, Irish Life, P&G and many other famous brand driven companies over the course of his career. By his own admission he is a creative planner and is hugely motivated and passionate about great ideas and the role of planning in helping creative teams to produce powerful, effective and compelling work.

We are absolutely thrilled to have a talent of Seán’s calibre join the McCann team. His track record and huge reputation are well deserved and we’re excited to get an opportunity to work with him.