Great work creates tension: McCann's Global CCO Andrés Ordóñez

The Omnicom-IPG consolidation has reshaped the global agency landscape, bringing together some of the industry's most influential creative networks under one roof. For McCann, the transition has marked the beginning of a new chapter. One that combines greater scale with a broader set of capabilities. Speaking with Neeta Nair, Editor, IMPACT Magazine, at Cannes Lions 2026, Andrés Ordóñez, Global Chief Creative Officer, McCann Worldgroup, described the integration as a coming together of strengths and cultures rather than a loss of identity. He spoke about the opportunities that scale brings, from access to data and AI capabilities to a wider network of specialist expertise.

Ordóñez also reflected on the industry's changing priorities in the age of AI. While technology is enabling agencies to move faster and produce more, he believes creativity will remain the ultimate differentiator. He argued that the industry may currently be leaning towards quantity over quality, but expects the pendulum to swing back. The conversation also touched upon India's growing role within McCann's global network and the enduring impact of campaigns such as ‘Lucky Yatra’. Addressing the controversy that followed the campaign, he remarked, "Great work has many fathers. Bad work doesn't have any parents, so no one really wants to talk about it." He also stressed the importance of agencies understanding their own strengths rather than trying to emulate others. "At the end of the day, ideas and creativity are going to be the things that drive change, business and growth," he said.

Read the edited excerpts below:
This is your first Cannes after the consolidation. Tell us about your three best bets this year.
I think IKEA, Huggies is going to do very well. Kotex, too, should perform strongly. We also have a piece from Peru called Muni that I’m very excited about. Actually, I’ve given you four best bets. We’re ready for it.

Now you’ve been with FCB for six years, roughly. On one hand, your former home was retired by Omnicom. On the other side, now you’re leading one of the three most powerful networks under the Omnicom umbrella. Did the consolidation make you happy or sad?
Happy and sad. If I focus on the sad side, then I don't think you move forward. But if you see it as the opportunity that came with it, it was amazing. I always look at it this way: we were FCB, and now we're four times bigger. But we carry our energy, and we adopted a beautiful energy from McCann. It's been a beautiful moment of two energies colliding together and creating what hopefully will be the new McCann.

Talking about the sheer scale of it, tell me one thing that you can do with McCann today that you couldn’t do with FCB?
Like everything else in life, it's not about what you can't do. If you have the will to do great things, you'll figure it out. But now there are fewer reasons not to do great things. That's what I've found. We have great companies within the network. The data side is amazing. The AI studios are amazing. FutureBrand is amazing. What it gave all of us was more tools, more partners and more opportunities. It simply gave us more power to do more great things.

With agencies being folded into each other, first, people are moving from here to there. And culture is sort of getting dissolved. How do you manage to overcome the corporate homogenization of agencies once something like this happens?
You have to embrace it. The industry has come a long way. Many, many moons ago, everyone used to sit together. Then we all moved into silos, and now it feels like we're all coming back together again. What that gives you is more tools, more access and more opportunities to work with people who have different superpowers. I actually love it.

Tyler recently spoke about what he called a growth crisis. He pointed to the shrinking share of client revenue being invested in advertising, and at a surprising pace. What do agencies need to do today to make themselves irreplaceable? And is there a genuine need for a pivot?
Change is the only constant in life. Yes, we can be more efficient, and we can move at a very different speed with the tools that exist right now. But at the same time, there has to be an understanding that, at the end of the day, ideas and creativity are what drive change, business and growth. The world believes these tools will give us the ability to create more content. Right now, we're a little bit on the path of quantity over quality. But the pendulum is going to swing back, and people will once again understand the power of quality. We're going through a little bit of a transition.

You once said that machines can't give you goosebumps. What is one recent piece of work from the Indian market that gave you goosebumps?
One of the pieces I will always remember is Lucky Yatra. I remember sitting in a conference room with Dheeraj Sinha and the team, and they brought this idea to us. They said, "We have this idea built around a lottery and a beautiful human truth about travelling by train in India." That gave birth to Lucky Yatra. I will always carry that piece with me. Now that I'm with McCann, I keep telling Dheeraj that I need to come back and find our next Lucky Yatra.

There was also a bit of controversy that erupted after Lucky Yatra. What is your view on it?
There's always that. Great work always comes with a little bit of everything. Great work has many fathers, and it brings tension. Bad work doesn't have any parents, so no one really wants to talk about it. It is what it is. But at the end of the day, if you take it for what it was worth, it was a beautiful, incredible and insightful idea that can travel. We should be grateful for it. We should celebrate it and keep doing it.

The need for specialised agencies in India is growing. At a time like this, Dheeraj is leading a giant network like McCann. What would your advice be to him?
Sometimes we spend too much time thinking about why we did this or why we did that. At the end of the day, the first thing we need to understand is: what is our superpower? What is it that makes us different?
Own it and go hard at it. Sometimes you're so obsessed with being someone else that you forget how great you are at something. Focus on what you're great at, and it will make you even better.

What role does India play today in the global McCann ecosystem? Are there more strategies or more campaigns from India which you would like to apply in other markets?
Yes, actually, in my new role, I’ve been working quite a bit with McCann India on Nestlé globally. The ideas and the work coming out of India are really great. Every time I speak to Dheeraj, I’m amazed by how much he’s involved in. He works here, he works there, he works everywhere. So I think we’re going to see a lot more of India on the global stage.