Exploring Angus Tucker’s Temporary Takeover of Leo Burnett Toronto

Big news came out of Leo Burnett Toronto earlier this week when it was announced that Steve Persico, the agency’s chief creative officer and an employee for 19 years, was set to depart. An equally familiar name in Canadian advertising, Angus Tucker, has taken over as interim CCO.

Angus is one of the co-founders of the iconic john st., and has been an owner for the past 20 years. However, for the time being he’s focusing on one simple goal, which, as he puts it, is to “reassert Leo Burnett’s position in this market as Leo Burnett.”

“Leo is, and has always been, a big brand agency, which is what attracted me to them (and what I’ve always admired about them),” he explains. “I like doing big, transformative work on big brands. It’s the toughest test in this job and I enjoy it, but there are so few agencies who know how to do it.”

While Angus mentions that his joining the team wasn’t necessarily in the plan per say, it’s certainly something he’s been keeping an eye on (and writing about in his ‘How to Write Gooder’ blog). So, when he found himself approached by Leo Burnett president Ben Tarr, he realised he absolutely could help.

“Being away from the day-to-day has allowed me the chance to get a broader perspective on things,” he says. “I thought I could provide some leadership, some clarity of direction and a point of view.”

Adding that being a business owner gives a creative director an incomparable perspective, Angus notes that while he’s not doing the financials (“thank god”), he understands exactly how an agency needs to operate to make money.

“I think clients respect that,” he continues. “I know what it’s like to have a shitty quarter.”

But, equally so, Angus also knows how easy it is to fall into the trap of only being focused on short-term goals, thereby missing out on the importance of the long game. “You have to pay attention to both – the now and the future,” he states. “This is the value I hoped I could bring Ben and the Leo team, and, so far, so good.”

So, what does it take to reawaken a Canadian juggernaut in a market that’s growing increasingly competitive? According to Angus, it all starts with a centralised ethos, which, at the moment, is urgency. 

“I believe that when you have a great idea, someone else on the planet has the exact same idea. Whoever gets it made first wins,” he says. “Therefore, if we have a good idea, I want it in front of the client tomorrow. We spend too much time making things perfect and waiting for the right time to move. I want to do it now. They say that politicians have 100 days to get things done when they first take office. After that, it’s about getting re-elected – midterms, primaries etc. I’m approaching this job with that in mind. Clients are smart. They don’t need an idea to be completely blown out and essentially finished before they see it for the first time. I’d rather present an idea that’s 80% there today than wait a week to get it 95% there.”

This mentality complements Angus’ perception of present day advertising. While he acknowledges that any agency can do stunts which catch fire on social media, the flipside is that things move so fast that even the great social media ideas are forgotten about two days later. And if that’s all an agency aspires to do? “It’s a race to the bottom,” as he puts it.

“Brands don’t turn around on a social post,” he affirms. “They turn around on an idea that speaks to the target in a smart and surprising way. There’s a reason ‘Just do it’ resonates 40 years later. It’s a challenge that athletes (and humans) can’t resist.”

To this end, it appears as though Angus will be leaning heavily into Leo Burnett’s design and research capabilities – placing them at the forefront of solutions brought to clients. 

While he describes the former as having a legacy that’s "unparalleled in this country,” it’s the latter which thus far has proven particularly promising. Already, the interim CCO has observed the benefits of original research and commitment to human-based insights, given the fact that during his second week, the team sold an idea that came directly from ‘The Humankind Study’, Leo Burnett’s annual report on the main issues and concerns impacting people today.

These aren’t the only resources that Angus wants to take advantage of either. “I’ve been here for three weeks, and any agency in the city would kill for the brands Leo Burnett has, the resources it has, and the talent it has in here,” he says. “The agency has a production facility that we tried unsuccessfully to build at john st. for ten years. What most have been talking about doing, Leo Burnett has done.”

Of course, pieces of potential still need to be honed into a successful collective, and that’s why, at the end of the day, Angus maintains that he wants the work to get better. “Sharper, smarter and more surprising – because it has to be,” he says firmly.

He admits this will be challenging – considering the fact that today, advertising competes with every distraction in human life, from social media to group texts from one’s friends – but also expresses excitement in equal measure for the prospect of working every day alongside a group of people who are equally motivated to get great work made – on every account.

So, with all this said, what does the long term look like for Leo Burnett’s office in Toronto? Sure, the ethos is obvious, the mandates are flying and the goals are abundantly clear, but ‘interim’ isn’t exactly a word which implies permanence. 

Angus reflects that while this is indeed his role at the moment, who knows what the future holds? 

“I’m not the world’s best planner,” he says. “I like seeing what things come my way and responding to them with an open mind. But, if I’ve learned anything in the past year-and-a-bit, it’s that it’s hard to predict exactly how life is going to go. So I’m going to pull out the classic NHL hockey player pre-game interview answer, ‘I’m just taking it one day at a time’.”