Tag: Mediacom

Singapore – Committed to delivering marketing breakthroughs, Media investment company GroupM has officially launched its newest and largest agency EssenceMediaCom, which will provide modern integrated media solutions for brands. With pioneer agencies Essence and Mediacom joining forces, the breakthrough agency will deliver performance, data, analytics and creative technology DNA with scaled multichannel audience planning and strategic media expertise.

EssenceMediaCom comprises 10,000 people across 120 offices in 96 markets. The agency’s global roster includes Adidas, Bayer, Dell, Google, Mars, NBCUniversal, PlayStation, Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company and Uber.

Through EssenceMediacom’s Operating System (EMOS), the modular suite of tools and data will connect Essence, MediaCom and GroupM’s technology to make it available for the agency’s teams and clients across the globe.

GroupM, being the media investment management arm of WPP, will be able to access the richest data, most robust benchmarks and most advanced capabilities in the market. This will make the agency in providing comprehensive solutions for all marketing challenges.

Rupert McPetrie, CEO of EssenceMediacom’s APAC expressed his excitement about combining Essence and MediaCom. He also highlighted that they look forward to working together and continually push media possibilities with category-defining innovations.

Meanwhile, global CEO of EssenceMediacom Nick Lawson said, “What will underpin our groundbreaking agency is our people, and we will be steadfast in our commitment to provide an environment of continuous learning so they can grow and be the best they can be. Together, and with analytics, data and technology at our heart, I have no doubt we will deliver breakthroughs across our entire client base.”

Lastly, Christian Juhl, global CEO of GroupM added, “The fusion of Essence’s measurement and data-driven DNA with MediaCom’s scale and strategic expertise creates something truly unique in the marketplace.”

GroupM announced the agency merger of Essence and MediaCom with the integration of Mindshare and Neo back in 2022. This was made to help clients in adjusting to the evolving media landscape and provide them with performance solutions.

Mumbai, India – Global creative network WPP has announced that it has acquired the remaining 26 per cent stake in MediaCom Communications in India. MediaCom in India is treated as a JV between WPP and independent communications group Madison World. Following WPP’s decision to merge Essence and MediaCom globally, top management of Madison World has agreed to exit MediaCom to enable the merger. 

The initial agreement between WPP and Madison World dates back to 2008, under which the company owned 51%. In 2017, Madison World sold 25% to WPP. The unique deal between WPP and Madison World contributed to the rapid growth that MediaCom experienced in India. 

MediaCom Communications in India had offices in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru with a team of 165. It has done media planning and buying for a number of top brands such as Procter & Gamble and Dell.

Sam Balsara, chairman of Madison World, said, “This innovative partnership we invested in nearly 15 years ago has been a great success for all parties. It has established MediaCom in India as a fast-growing and highly respected agency by advertisers.”

Nick Lawson, Global CEO of MediaCom, commented, “It has been a pleasure working with Sam Balsara and Lara Balsara as we grew this successful business in India. We will build on that legacy to deliver the agency model our clients want for the future – founded on brilliant strategy and brand-building capabilities, with pioneering digital expertise running throughout.”

Sam Balasara and Lara Balasara are Madison World’s chairman and executive director, respectively.

It was in April 2022 when the EssenceMediacom merger was officially announced. The fusion combines the digital and data-driven capabilities of Essence with MediaCom’s scaled multichannel, audience planning, and strategic media expertise. 

Singapore – MediaCom, the media agency by media investment company GroupM, has appointed Ashish Williams, former CEO at MediaCom South Africa, to be its new managing director for Singapore.

In his new role, Williams will be leading the Singapore business and will be building on the recent momentum, accelerating the agency’s capabilities with a focus on people, client solutions, and product development. 

Williams has a 14-year long track record at MediaCom across markets from China to South Africa and over 22 years of experience in the industry. Under his leadership in South Africa, the agency climbed to first place in the market via a methodical focus ensuring talent and technology strategies paved the way to create consumer connections by driving relevant and revolutionised digital products.

Commenting on his appointment, Williams said, “Taking over the leadership of MediaCom Singapore, which is also the home of our regional hub in one of the world’s most dynamic and fast-growing regions, is incredibly exciting. I can’t wait to lead our high-performance teams and work with our clients to deliver sustainable growth and help our people thrive.”

Meanwhile, Rupert McPetrie, CEO at MediaCom APAC, shared that Williams is a great leader, who has delivered terrific results over many years across many markets, with a track record of taking care of people and client businesses with a very clear vision. 

“I couldn’t be more pleased that this leadership appointment has come from within our global organisation. Our People First, Better Results ethos means we put people at the centre of our client relationships, and that we provide long-term growth opportunities within the network globally,” said McPetrie.

Singapore — MediaCom, the media agency by media investment company GroupM, has promoted its regional chief product officer for APAC Josh Gallagher to now become the chief operating officer for APAC. The COO role is newly created and is designed to provide additional senior support for the network’s teams and enhanced leadership to clients.

MediaCom shared that the decision to create this role was made by newly appointed APAC CEO Rupert McPetrie and reflects the growth the agency has experienced over the last year, bagging multiple awards from various distinguished organizations.

Gallagher joined the GroupM network in 2018 from Havas where he was APAC CSO in the role of chief product officer, MediaCom APAC. As the agency’s product suite and capabilities have grown, Gallagher has been essential in helping the company across performance and eCommerce and has led the global commerce consulting offering within BLINK Consulting. 

In his new role as COO for APAC, he is tasked to ensure that the agency builds on the business momentum by scaling its capabilities, through MediaCom’s distinctive and differentiated offering of its ethos ‘Seeing The Bigger Picture’, and by consistently delivering for the agency’s clients across the region.

Mcpetrie commented on the promotion, saying, “It’s always fantastic when you can look inside your organisation and find someone who is perfect for the most senior roles. Josh has done a terrific job building new capabilities and products for our clients over the last three years and has also played a significant role in our new business successes, including the recent wins of Bayer and The Coca-Cola Company. He will be an amazing COO for our region and will help MediaCom continue its successful trajectory.” 

Gallagher shared his enthusiasm for his newly assumed role, saying, “I look forward to bringing a forward-thinking and challenging mindset to the role, helping our people and clients continually grow. My focus will be on driving the culture to do so. In an industry that is ever-changing, being able to evolve the way we work through more agile talent and technology capabilities will deliver work that transforms our clients’ businesses.” 

Singapore – MediaCom, the media agency by media investment company GroupM, has announced the appointment of Rupert McPetrie as APAC CEO, following the upcoming departure of Mark Heap, who is moving within the group to join sister agency Mindshare as its EMEA CEO.

McPetrie, who will also continue his current role as CEO for Greater China, will expand his area of responsibility to lead the regional operations of the WPP-owned network and take responsibility for more than 1600 people across 21 offices. He will also join the MediaCom Worldwide Exco and will be reporting directly to Global CEO Nick Lawson. 

Rupert holds extensive experience in Greater China having spent six years leading MediaCom in the region. Aside from his work in MediaCom, he’s held leadership roles in regional operations during his time as the CEO of media company Zenith for Central and Eastern Europe.

Lawson shared his praises for the upcoming APAC CEO.

“Rupert is quite simply a brilliant leader. Throughout his time leading our China operations, he has developed numerous client solutions and brought the best talent to our agency via game-changing solutions and capabilities, such as Incite Consulting and China Passport. All his great work has grown our business from number 6 to number 2 in the market, and we look forward to him reapplying this magic across the region building on Mark’s outstanding legacy,” Lawson said. 

McPetrie said he is thrilled to take on this expanded role and have the opportunity to work with all the people and clients to build on the strong business momentum the company has in the region.

“This is in part due to the recent slew of new business wins, such as The Coca Cola Company and Bayer, but importantly also down to our incredible clients and the work we do for them across APAC. Our People First, Better Results proposition has been at the heart of our growth, together with our extended Bigger Picture capabilities that drive our clients’ businesses forward,” Mcpetrie said.

Mumbai, India – MediaCom, the media agency by media investment company GroupM, has appointed two new key senior talents to strengthen its core leadership team in India.

The new hires are Shekhar Sharma, the new North and East managing partner, and Averill Sequeira, the new chief product officer.

Sharma has previously worked as the vice president for digital platforms and services at GroupM, where he has been instrumental in spearheading a digital-first approach for brands varying from global to large Indian conglomerates and mid-sized businesses. He has also been an accomplished integrated marketing professional with experience in managing large media investments from global clients to large Indian conglomerates across different vertical

Sharma brings with him over 25 years of diversified experience in the media and marketing industry. His expertise ranges from crafting media strategies, bringing in an insights-based approach to sharpen the strategic planning and deliver ROI for clients. In his new role, Sharma will be responsible for the team’s offices, clients, and growth. 

Meanwhile, Sequeira was a GroupM alumnus, with over 18 years of experience across the media, communications, and consulting industry. She specializes in data, digital media, and strategy, as well as creativity. Her formative years were spent in developing audience insight tools and specializing in marketing ROI/ econometric modeling.

In her new role, Sequeira will be leading ‘Seeing the Bigger Picture’, a MediaCom Creative Systems wherein they use the power of data to bring together media and creativity, which was successfully soft-launched in the US and Australia, and is now ready to roll out to the rest of the world.

Commenting on the appointments, Navin Khemka, the chief executive officer of MediaCom South Asia, said that as the media landscape continues to accelerate and evolve, they want to build on the strong track record of helping brands build campaigns that deliver results.

“Today brands want to communicate quickly and effectively, and we believe that together with our new appointments, we will be able to deliver more powerful work for our clients. With having Shekhar and Averill as a part of our team, I am convinced that they’re uniquely positioned to successfully drive the company and are here to put their best foot forward towards offering the best solution to our clients and strengthening our portfolio,” added Khemka.

Singapore – Pizza Hut Delivery (PHD) Indonesia has designated GroupM-owned companies, global media network MediaCom, and programmatic business Xaxis to handle all of its future programmatic campaigns.

According to a press release by Xaxis, PHD Indonesia pivoted to run more programmatic campaigns to ensure that its marketing efforts reached only the most relevant audiences.

Xaxis said that one of the weak links it targeted to fix for PHD is its disconnected online and offline customer data, which makes for a lack of visibility into the overlap and differences between its in-store and digital customers.

With such pain point, Mediacom will be taking over to consolidate audience insights with the use of Xaxis’ audience analysis solution Beyond.

Alfitrahmat Saputro, brand digital manager of PHD shared that unlike traditional panel-based market research, Beyond provided them with an audience analysis based entirely on the real-world behavior of their actual customers on both the website and physical stores.

Meanwhile, Yunnita Avreda, country head for Xaxis Indonesia said, “We were excited to work with a client so open to trying new innovations. With customers who can interact with the brand online through their delivery website, in-store, or through pick-up and take-out, Pizza Hut Delivery Indonesia was a perfect fit for Beyond and its capability to bridge online and offline consumer data.”

Xaxis Beyond will be made available across the APAC region.