Former CEO, Kevin Clarke, who has
led MediaCom in the region for the past 5 years, will work
alongside Alex to ensure a smooth transition before he takes up his
new role as CEO of GroupM Thailand in September. Thailand has been
Kevin's base for many years and he takes on the new assignment
based on his desire to return to a local market role.
Alex will continue to build on Kevin's
strategy of promoting MediaCom's People First Better Results
philosophy. He will work with all 21 offices in the region to
ensure that clients receive the agency's very best products, tools
and services, including the Real World Street initiative and
specialist interactive, planning and econometric tools.
Additionally, as part of the People First programme, his
brief will be to continue to grow the company's talent pool across
the region, encouraging a nurturing environment that ensures
MediaCom employs the most talented and motivated staff in the
industry.
Alex joins MediaCom from
Omnicom-controlled integrated network DAVINCI Selectwork. Based in
the US, he was President/CEO Americas and Australia and as
co-founder was instrumental in the company's rapid growth from a
standing start to a presence in more than 60 markets in just seven
years.
"Kevin has done a fantastic job at
MediaCom over the past five years, turning what was a small agency
into one of the region's major media agency networks that now
serves many of the world's largest advertisers. When I took up my
global role, I was incredibly impressed by the culture of the
agency in APAC and the way the markets worked together as a
coherent network. Our business' success in the region is a
testament to Kevin's leadership," said Stephen Allan, MediaCom
Worldwide's Chairman and CEO. "Having decided he wanted to return
to a local market role, I'm delighted that Kevin has chosen to stay
in the GroupM family, thereby maintaining his connections with
MediaCom. And I am confident that in Alex we have found a worthy
successor to Kevin, someone who will continue our drive to make
MediaCom the number one agency network across Asia Pacific."
On his appointment, Alex said "I am
extremely happy to be a part of the MediaCom family during this
exciting period in our development and growth. With Kevin's fine
leadership until now across the region, the great team we have and
a vision I absolutely believe in, we will be unstoppable."
As one of the youngest, yet fastest
growing agency networks in the Asia Pacific region, MediaCom has
over 750 staff across 21 offices in 15 countries across the region.
Major client gains in recent years include various P&G
assignments in India, Philippines, China, Japan and Korea, and also
Dell across the entire region.
Mark Patterson, CEO of GroupM Asia
Pacific, said, "Kevin took on a monumental task back in late 2005
of leading an embryonic network with little scale and expertise and
forming a fully fledged regional agency with all the capabilities
required of a GroupM agency. He spearheaded the development of
MediaCom into a first class business with first class clients in a
matter of months, landing global clients and local business as well
as converting significant parts of P&G to MediaCom. He led that
transformation. Alex has a very sound foundation on which to take
up the MediaCom mantle with full GroupM support." Mark
continued, "Kevin is the ideal man to lead our whole Thai
operation. It is a big business with a bright future under Kevin's
leadership. He has lived in and loved Thailand for more than 12
years, and led Mindshare there for eight of those. I couldn't think
of a better leader."