What you need to know:

• WPP's GroupM has landed another direct hit on rival Omnicom Media Group, poaching incoming CEO Aimee Buchanan's right hand man and OMD Chief Operating Officer, Nathan Young.
• Young appointed GroupM Chief Growth Officer.
• OMG chief Peter Horgan now needs to find two top-level operators to lead OMD.

Double down

Negotiations with Young were understood to have been completed just weeks after Buchanan was secured as GroupM’s new boss for Australia and New Zealand but Buchanan was kept at arms length in the discussions, which were led by GroupM’s APAC regional leadership team, possibly to mitigate any contractual breaches or risk of legal action. 

Young has been appointed GroupM’s Chief Growth Officer after spending about five years working alongside Buchanan at OMD as her go-to on operations and delivery across the group internally and for OMD’s blue chip customer portfolio.

Young was considered Buchanan’s right hand on executing strategy and her agenda at OMD and will serve as an early ally when she lands at GroupM and starts moving at pace to sharpen competitiveness.

GroupM’s global CEO Christian Juhl told Mi3 on a podcast yesterday that Buchanan has a wide remit at GroupM to rewire the business. 

“There's a lot of things that are non-negotiable in there, but Aimee's got wide authority to do what she thinks is right for the markets, which is how GroupM runs globally,” he said. “I don't believe in being number one just for the sake of wearing the number one T-shirt. But I do believe in being number one in terms of providing the price and value that we need to provide to clients. And we're there right now. In fairness, we're big enough that we have a seat at every single table and we can get the pricing power that we need.” 

GroupM confirmed the appointment to Mi3 yesterday: “We continue to expand our expert capabilities as we evolve our business and shape the next era of media. Nathan’s extensive experience in commercial strategy, business operations and transformation, exceptional client and team management skills make him perfectly placed to join our team in GroupM and work closely with our agencies. Nathan brings with him over 20 years’ experience, both agency and sales side, and will be a fantastic addition to complement our teams. We are thrilled to welcome him in Q4.”

OMG CEO Peter Horgan said in a short response: “We wish Nathan the best of luck and thank him for his services.”

Horgan, now acting as interim CEO at OMD, told Mi3 last month he expects to make an announcement on Buchanan’s replacement by Christmas.