Tag: Stephen Allan

MediaCom announces changes to Worldwide, EMEA and UK leadership teams

MUMBAI: MediaCom has promoted Nick Lawson, Josh Krichefski and Kate Rowlinson in changes to its Worldwide, EMEA and UK leadership teams. All changes will come into effect in September.

Nick Lawson, currently MediaCom’s EMEA CEO and global client practice lead, succeeds Toby Jenner as worldwide chief operating officer. Nick will be responsible for driving the network’s business development, marketing and product offers, while retaining his position as global client practice lead. Nick has been with the agency for 28 years, originally as part of the media business before it merged with MediaCom in 1999.

Josh Krichefski, who originally joined MediaCom in 2011, replaces Lawson as EMEA CEO, having spent the last three years as UK CEO. He takes responsibility for 4,400 people across 37 offices, driving the vision and culture for the region.

Josh is replaced as UK CEO by Kate Rowlinson, the agency’s current managing director, Worldwide Hubs who has been part of the network for ten years. She will lead the country’s biggest agency, comprised of 1,250 people across five offices.

Worldwide chairman and CEO Stephen Allan said of the appointments, “Nick, Josh and Kate’s track records in delivering truly innovative work are unparalleled and I am in no doubt they are the best people to lead the MediaCom network into its next exciting chapter. They will bring forward thinking and rich expertise to our clients, helping them achieve their growth agendas, and perfectly exemplify our People First, Better Results belief. Their continued personal growth has and will continue to deliver the best possible results for the brands we work with.”

Lawson and Krichefski will report into Stephen Allan, whilst Rowlinson will report into Krichefski.

July 19, 2019
MediaCom expands global executive leadership team

MUMBAI: MediaCom has strengthened its Global Executive Committee with two senior appointments. Kate Rowlinson, Managing Director Worldwide Hubs, has been promoted to the Global EXCO along with Christine Fang, who recently joined the agency as Global Chief Financial Officer. Rowlinson and Fang begin their duties with immediate effect.

In her current role as Managing Director, Worldwide Hubs, Kate is responsible for developing MediaCom’s Worldwide Hubs, so they build on already strong senior client stakeholder relationships and enhance the agency’s use of customised solutions for its clients. Rowlinson ensures MediaCom’s hubs operate to the same best practice guidelines while striving for better integration and mobility opportunities for its people.

Christine Fang, Global Chief Financial Officer, has more than 20 years of experience in financial management roles at agencies and brands and joins MediaCom from GroupM. Prior to joining GroupM China as CFO in 2016, Christine was Head of FP&A at Mondelez China, and before that, spent more than six years at PepsiCo China as CFO Beverages. Christine has also worked at Gillette China and Carrefour China.

Stephen Allan, MediaCom’s Worldwide Chairman & CEO said “We are delighted to welcome Kate and Christine into our agency’s global executive leadership team. Kate has been with us, cumulatively, for more than a decade, and she has been instrumental in the growth of our and our clients’ businesses. Her promotion is a clear illustration of our ‘People First, Better Results’ philosophy in action. Christine, meanwhile, brings with her a lifetime’s experience in commercial leadership roles at both agencies and clients, and her knowledge and insights, specifically from a client perspective, will prove invaluable.”

April 5, 2019
MediaCom tops COMvergence New Business Barometer for 2018

MUMBAI: MediaCom has been named as the world’s most successful agency network of 2018 in the COMvergence New Business Barometer Full Year 2018 report.

MediaCom’s net gains of $2.2 billion in new business billings (which includes $2 billion in the top 12 countries) factors in $893 million of retained business. Key account wins for MediaCom during this period included Adidas, Bose, Mars and Hilton, while the agency also retained the Shell account after competitive pitches, along with Sky in the UK.

The COMvergence report assesses more than 2,250 media account moves and retentions across 34 countries totalling $30.4 billion.

In addition to topping the global table, MediaCom was the most successful agency in North America and APAC.

This performance maintains MediaCom’s incredible growth of the last two years. In 2017, COMvergence reported that the agency won $2.1bn of new business billings, winning clients such as PSA Peugeot Citroën, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Richemont, and Falabella.

MediaCom worldwide chairman and CEO Stephen Allan said: “This is a really fantastic result and one we are very proud of. At MediaCom, we believe in putting people first to get better results – for us and our clients – and our consistent performance over the last year goes some way to proving that we are delivering on this promise. We’re going to continue working hard to stay at the top in 2019 and keep growing our clients’ businesses!”

March 5, 2019
Mars assigns global media planning & buying to MediaCom

MUMBAI: Confectionery and food business, Mars Inc, which is also one of the world’s biggest advertisers, has appointed MediaCom to handle its media planning and buying duties across most of the company’s portfolio.

The full assignment will go into effect on 1 January 2019 and the transition period will run from August until December 2018.

The result follows a competitive pitch against Omnicom, led by Hearts and Science, and Publicis, led by Starcom.

MediaCom had previously managed media planning globally for the client and buying in over 20 markets, including Mexico, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands.

The entire global business — which is worth £1.4 billion globally, according to data from Recma – will now be consolidated into MediaCom, including buying for the US and China. To deliver on the assignment, MediaCom will work as part of GroupMW, a GroupM solution, tapping into the resources of GroupM and WPP agencies to deliver outstanding results for Mars.

This decision connects to the larger transformation Mars has been driving with its marketing and media agenda — looking to build competitive advantage through insights, investment, and innovation. With an ever-changing marketing and retail landscape, Mars has been putting an increased focus on driving value from fast approaches to data, new creative and content models, and ways to incubate innovation.

Mars chief marketing and customer officer Andrew Clarke says, “This partnership will be a crucial accelerator in our ambition to be quicker, bolder and even more innovative when it comes to meeting our consumer needs. It brings thought leadership and actionable use of data and insights to meet our media needs.”

“It was impressive to see some of the fresh, challenging approaches from all three of the agencies. It’s helped evolve our thinking throughout the pitch and inspired us to be even bolder in our ambition. GroupM created a custom operating model for us which enables us to put data at the heart of our decision making, drive speed at a global, local and campaign level, and use our resources efficiently,” adds Mars global media director Rob Rakowitz.

“Building on our existing remit, and extending our 25-year relationship, we, along with our GroupMW colleagues, will now be managing all of Mars’ media buying, as well as their data and analytics,” mentions MediaCom Worldwide chairman and CEO Stephen Allan. “This confirms our place as the trusted media partner to one of the world’s most prestigious advertisers.”

August 9, 2018
Opel/Vauxhall assigns media mandate to MediaCom

MUMBAI: Opel/Vauxhall, the British automobile company, has bought a new agency on board to handle its media mandate. Starting January next year, MediaCom will be responsible for the media strategy, the placement and the purchase of advertising space in all the European markets of Opel/Vauxhall.

“During the presentation of our plan for the future, PACE!, two weeks ago we announced that we would significantly increase the efficiency of our marketing spend. With the merger of our advertising budget within Groupe PSA, we achieve great synergies, which will clearly improve our cost efficiency right from the start of 2018”, says Opel Automobile GmbH managing director sales and marketing Peter Küspert.

“MediaCom is delighted to have earned the opportunity to apply its unique expertise and scale to Opel/Vauxhall in the years to come. These two brands, alongside Peugeot, Citroen and DS, are some of the most revered and historic in the automotive industry. We are very excited to have the opportunity to drive their global growth.” says MediaCom Worldwide chairman and CEO Stephen Allan.

November 23, 2017
GroupM acquires controlling interest in MediaCom India

MUMBAI: WPP’s GroupM, the world’s leading global media investment group, yesterday announced it will be acquiring a majority stake in MediaCom India, a joint venture between GroupM India and Sam Balsara, the principal shareholder of the Madison Media group. While MediaCom India will continue operating as an independent brand, the agency will have the advantage of access to GroupM’s global infrastructure.

This acquisition continues WPP’s strategy of investing in fast growth markets, new media and digital.

“The majority acquisition of MediaCom in India represents a significant evolution in one of the world’s fastest growing economies. As India becomes a very attractive business hub for global clients, we are confident our talented team in India will deliver exemplary growth and results for all stakeholders,” MediaCom Worldwide CEO Stephen Allan.

Speaking on the acquisition, GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas said, “MediaCom India has won several prestigious clients, developed a strong digital presence and has delivered award-winning campaigns for clients. As a network, we have taken giant strides globally and in India towards a more Data and Tech-led core to our business. MediaCom India can harness our world-class media infrastructure to provide more value to its clients and people.”

Founded in 2007, MediaCom India became a joint venture in 2008. Over the last eight years, MediaCom India has established itself as one of the top 5 media agencies in the market in terms of market share (source: RECMA ratings 2015). In 2016, WARC ranked MediaCom India’s Mumbai office as one of the top 10 media agencies in the world based on performance in effectiveness and strategy impact for its clients.

The Content + Connection agency, MediaCom India, delivers not just individual channel efficiencies but also connected communications system effectiveness by developing and optimising all content –as the fuel that drives high-performing systems. Furthermore, the India team has adapted the ‘People First’ philosophy very well from its global parent, resulting in the lowest attrition rate in the media industry. The agency has consistently won all major awards, both global and local including M&M, Spikes Asia, FOM Asia as well as The Global Awards, EMVIEs, ABBYs, etc.

January 25, 2017
GroupM acquires controlling interest in MediaCom India

MUMBAI: WPP’s GroupM, the world’s leading global media investment group, yesterday announced it will be acquiring a majority stake in MediaCom India, a joint venture between GroupM India and Sam Balsara, the principal shareholder of the Madison Media group. While MediaCom India will continue operating as an independent brand, the agency will have the advantage of access to GroupM’s global infrastructure.

This acquisition continues WPP’s strategy of investing in fast growth markets, new media and digital.

“The majority acquisition of MediaCom in India represents a significant evolution in one of the world’s fastest growing economies. As India becomes a very attractive business hub for global clients, we are confident our talented team in India will deliver exemplary growth and results for all stakeholders,” MediaCom Worldwide CEO Stephen Allan.

Speaking on the acquisition, GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas said, “MediaCom India has won several prestigious clients, developed a strong digital presence and has delivered award-winning campaigns for clients. As a network, we have taken giant strides globally and in India towards a more Data and Tech-led core to our business. MediaCom India can harness our world-class media infrastructure to provide more value to its clients and people.”

Founded in 2007, MediaCom India became a joint venture in 2008. Over the last eight years, MediaCom India has established itself as one of the top 5 media agencies in the market in terms of market share (source: RECMA ratings 2015). In 2016, WARC ranked MediaCom India’s Mumbai office as one of the top 10 media agencies in the world based on performance in effectiveness and strategy impact for its clients.

The Content + Connection agency, MediaCom India, delivers not just individual channel efficiencies but also connected communications system effectiveness by developing and optimising all content –as the fuel that drives high-performing systems. Furthermore, the India team has adapted the ‘People First’ philosophy very well from its global parent, resulting in the lowest attrition rate in the media industry. The agency has consistently won all major awards, both global and local including M&M, Spikes Asia, FOM Asia as well as The Global Awards, EMVIEs, ABBYs, etc.

January 25, 2017
MediaCom named world’s top media agency by RECMA

MUMBAI: RECMA, the independent research organization charged with the in-depth assessment of global media agency network performance has recognized MediaCom as the world’s top media agency.

The results were published this week in RECMA’s authoritative Network Diagnostics report, with MediaCom ahead of Carat, OMD and Starcom across 19 key qualitative metrics designed to measure agency vitality and structural ability to address today’s complex communications challenges.

MediaCom’s top position is underpinned by its recent new business success across a number of networked clients, with marquee client wins including Mars worldwide planning, The Coca-Cola Company assignment in Mexico and the AB Inbev account in the US. Momentum in the US, the largest market for all players in the industry, has resulted in MediaCom being named 2015 US Media Agency of the Year by both Advertising Age and Adweek.

The full RECMA qualitative assessment is based on MediaCom’s performance across 40 markets in not only pitch competitiveness, but also client loyalty, top management, digital resources and awards, reflecting the agency’s proven performance in delivering superior results for global clients such as the Coca-Cola Company, Procter and Gamble and Sony.

“We’ve worked incredibly hard over the last few years to consistently build the global scale and expertise it takes to commit 100 per cent to all our clients while still winning new business. With more brands looking to marketing to drive business growth, our Content + Connections positioning and systems thinking approach enables us to provide a unique level of guidance and maximize client shareholder return,” said MediaCom worldwide chairman and CEO Stephen Allan.

June 10, 2015