It took a little while for McCann Erickson to get the OK to comment on nabbing agency of record duties for the United States Postal Service, which has previously worked with Campbell-Ewald on the creative portion of its business. Here’s what Harris Diamond, who took over for Nick Brien as McCann Worldgroup CEO last November, had to say about the USPS win in this statement:  “We are thrilled and honored to be awarded strategic and creative responsibilities for the United States Postal Service.  The Postal Service is as iconic a brand as any in our portfolio, and plays a huge role in our business and personal lives.  We are passionate about supporting its mission and helping it to grow revenue.”

Along with McCann picking up creative/strategic duties, MRM is also in the mix on USPS, which already has contracts with fellow sister Worldgroup agencies, Weber Shandwick and UM. No word yet on who else participated in the creative review. Update: From what sources are telling us, the USPS initially briefed eight agencies and the eventual finalists included JWT, Grey and possibly Y&R.

Perhaps absence really does make the heart grow fonder. After two-and-a-half years away from McCann, the place where she spent 16 years of her career and last served as CCO of the New York office, Joyce King Thomas has returned to the agency to take on a new role as president of McCann XBC (or “ExtraBoldCondensed”–sorta like a hair care product). The new, peculiarly titled unit will focus on McCann’s MasterCard biz and thus King Thomas should feel right at home considering she co-created the “Priceless” campaign for the brand some 15 years ago while at the agency.

McCann XBC (thank heavens there’s no “Team” moniker) will work in tandem with all other IPG agencies currently serving MasterCard in 112 markets including  R/GA, Octagon, UM and MRM. Along with King Thomas, the new division’s leadership includes Richard O’Leary, currently global account director for MasterCard, who will serve as managing director, and Devika Bulchandani, who will assume the title of global strategy director.

Newly installed McCann Worldgroup CEO/chairman Harris Diamond says of the returning King Thomas, who will take on her new role in January, “I am excited that Joyce will be leading McCann XBC. Her ideas, creativity and strategic understanding of the MasterCard brand are unparalleled.”

In between her two stints at McCann, King Thomas served as a creative consultant, traveled to India, worked on efforts including the Passion Project and most recently worked as a partner at long-form journo site, Longreads.

Well, Noreen at Adweek‘s trigger-finger was admittedly faster than ours at day’s end as she is indeed reporting what tipsters have been telling us since around 5-ish, that McCann Worldgroup CEO Nick Brien is no longer with the agency. As Adweek, George Parker and others have been buzzing about, Brien’s job status (along with Draftfcb boss Laurence Boschetto‘s) has been in doubt as of late, and recent comments made by Michael Roth, chairman/CEO of parent company IPG, didn’t really soothe matters. Brien had held his title as Worldgroup chairman/chief exec since April 2010 after serving as CEO of IPG’s Mediabrands.

Replacing Brien as McCann Worldgroup’s CEO is Harris Diamond, who most recently served as chairman/CEO of IPG’s Constituency Management Group. Says Roth in a statement, “Harris understands the business needs of global CEOs, across a range of industries. He has a proven track record of effectively managing a portfolio of agencies and growing the top line. He has created a strong culture of collaboration, which is increasingly key in a marketing landscape that requires integration of services. And he brings a deep knowledge of McCann in light of the alignment between Worldgroup and a number of the agencies within CMG, such as Weber Shandwick and FutureBrand.”

Along with Diamond’s appointment, IPG has given Luca Lindner and Gustavo Martinez, McCann Worldgroup president, Americas and Worldgroup president, Europe, respectively, more responsibilities with the former adding Middle East and Africa responsibilities (something he’s familiar with)and the latter, Asia-Pacific.