From Creative Confidence to Organic Growth

McCann Worldgroup, a leading global advertising network, faced a new commercial reality. As the market moved toward commoditisation, the role of their Client Services and Production teams had to evolve. It was no longer enough to deliver world-class work within scope and on budget – the new mandate was to drive organic growth.

The tension was clear: these teams were locked in a delivery cycle, focused on the logistics of the brief rather than how they could add value to the client’s business. To stay ahead, McCann needed their teams to stop just managing projects and start navigating the commercial challenges their clients were actually facing. They needed to apply the same rigour and creativity they brought to delivering award-winning advertising to the task of growing the McCann business.

The McCann Worldgroup Learning & Development team partnered with True & North to deliver a series of multi-agency workshops across the EMEA region. The mission was simple: the teams were not in sales, yet they were being asked to sell.

We helped them realise that the very things that make them amazing in their day-to-day work – empathy, rigour, and creative problem-solving – are the same tools required to help them uncover and unlock new opportunities with clients. We provided a practical framework that harnessed these existing superpowers, allowing the teams to drive growth in a way that felt authentic to them.