Mick McConnell's Career of Collaboration Went From Architecture to Advertising

Mick McConnell’s marketing career began with a stack of rejection letters from some of the top architectural firms in New York. The now-North America CEO of agency Superunion had the misfortune of graduating from architecture school into an early 1990s recession and found that few firms were hiring. So he was willing to do the job that was needed instead. McConnell landed a marketing role at the Kansas City, Mo., office of engineering and architecture giant Ellerbe Becket, which became a blessing in disguise. “I got hooked right away into marketing and pitches and that kind of realm,” he said. The position ended up being the start of a wide-ranging and singular career at the junction of marketing, architecture and design. A subsequent job at another architecture firm led McConnell back to New York to open a new branch. Then the marketing agency across the street, Arnell Group, managed to convince him to come over full time to advertising. There, he and a few of his colleagues opened an early digital agency called Surge Interactive that did web design work for clients like Consolidated Edison. After another stint in architecture supervising the construction of a Dubai hotel, McConnell found a middle ground between the two fields in a series of store and brand design jobs for companies including Starbucks, Samsung, Chipotle and WeWork. He also led a creative team at agency R/GA and taught courses at the Pratt Institute. Beyond a cross-disciplinary insight into design principles, McConnell said the culture of collaboration between client and firm in architecture gave him a different vantage point into how ad agencies tended to operate. “That kind of collaborative spirit is actually something that was seen earlier on in architecture than in the agency world,” McConnell said. “In the agency world for many, many years—until recently—it was: ‘This is my gift to you, right here. Here's your logo. Here's your brand that I'm giving you.’” At WPP-owned Superunion, where he has served as North America CEO since last year, McConnell has doubled down on that idea of collaboration. He is building out an internal initiative called Superunion Studios that involves working more closely with smaller agencies and freelancers and giving them due credit on the finished product. Some of his proudest work has also evolved out of joining forces with clients he admires, such as a campaign for Coca-Cola-owned plant-based beverage AdeS that sought to craft a new, shame-free narrative around the eco-conscious category. Going forward, McConnell also wants the agency to do work that brings together its clients on co-branded projects. “We've been talking about Superunion as a verb,” he said. “We have clients that have a desire to do something different. And we have another client that has a desire to do something different. And many times those desires and differences are aligned. Why can't we mash them up?” Big mistake While he was at Chipotle, Fast Company featured McConnell in its design issue. When his managers found out, he was fired for making himself the face of the company. “The biggest mistake was just going for it and tooting my own horn,” he said. Lesson learned "I learned a ton [from that mistake], not just for PR and press, but everything I do now that is a part of a group," he said. "I have to make sure the group is on board with the discussion that we're having." How he got the gig He knew WPP chief talent officer Shannon Moorman from his time at R/GA and had been considering a few different creative leadership roles within the WPP network when the Superunion CEO job opened up. Pro tip Go where the work is to develop a sense of open-mindedness and experience true change, McConnell said. "When you're young and just out of school and starting to build a career, traveling for opportunity is more than just the job."