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Tag: Kelly Clark

  • GroupM launches a consulting division

    MUMBAI: GroupM has launched GroupM Consulting Services, a new division designed to help clients achieve improvements to their marketing effectiveness and business results.

    The announcement was made by GroupM North America CEO Kelly Clark, who said the new unit would be led by Ernie Simon, a media agency executive with more than 25 years of experience.

    Simon was most recently OMD chief strategy officer. He also spent 10 years at the GroupM agency Mindshare.

    GroupM is the parent company to WPP media agencies Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, and Mindshare. It is the leading global media investment management operation with 2011 global billings of $90.7 billion (Source: Recma).

    Clark said that Simon, whose new role is effective immediately, was the ideal candidate to lead the new division.

    “Ernie‘s credentials speak for themselves. He‘s a total professional with a great mix of strategic and analytical skills. He also has extensive experience in a wide range of product and service categories, and we are delighted to welcome him back.”

    Simon will serve as president of the new division and will lead a team of analysts and consultants. The group will work with its clients to leverage capabilities and resources from across GroupM and its holding company WPP. The group‘s services will include the following:

    • Marketing and media analytics
    • Portfolio management
    • Marketing budget allocation and optimization
    • Target prioritization and optimization
    • Business forecasting
    • Return on media/marketing investment

    Simon worked at Mindshare from 1998 until 2009 where his roles included Chief Strategist and President of Strategic Planning, among others, most of them related to client leadership. At one point he served as Worldwide Strategic Planning Director on the Gillette account encompassing 50 brands in over 100 countries. He also managed the Bristol Myers-Squibb US account, as well as the Warner-Lambert/Pfizer business. He joined Mindshare when it was founded in 1999; he previously worked in the media department of WPP sister agency JWT.

  • Vikram Sakhuja is Maxus global CEO

    Vikram Sakhuja is Maxus global CEO

    MUMBAI: Vikram Sakhuja, CEO of GroupM for India and South Asia, has been appointed as global CEO of Maxus at a time when it has pocketed a string of new accounts including the prized NBC Universal and SC Johnson.

    Interestingly, this will be the first time that the CEO of Maxus will be based out of India.

    Sakhuja will succeed Kelly Clark who will now be in charge of the Group‘s operations in North America.

    Continuing to be based in Mumbai, Sakhuja will take over the new responsibility after the agency finds his replacement at GroupM.

    GroupM, WPP’s media agency, has carried out a number of changes including GroupM North America CEO Rob Norman who has been named as the chief digital officer of the agency in a newly created position.

    Sakhuja, Clark and Norman will report to GroupM global president Dominic Proctor. Each will begin his new role later this year.

    “Vikram is the perfect candidate to take on the Maxus role from Kelly. Maxus has a great management team and a lot of momentum. I have no doubt that Vikram will continue to build a great agency,” Proctor said.

    He added that Sakhuja will remain in his current role until his successor is announced.

    Sakhuja told Indiantelevision.com, “It is a very exciting opportunity to be leading Maxus which is a young and energetic brand. Being named as global CEO is very humbling.”

    Sakhuja has over 28 years of experience in the industry. He had joined GroupM in 2002 as MD Fulcrum. He was later promoted as MD of Mindshare South Asia and then to CEO for GroupM South Asia. Prior to joining GroupM, he has also worked with Star TV as EVP-marketing, Coca-Cola India as marketing manager brands and Procter & Gamble.