The big switch: GroupM names OMD boss Aimee Buchanan as new CEO

News Plus 28 Jul 2021 - 2 min read

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Tags: Aimee Buchanan Peter Horgan OMD Omnicom GroupM Mark Lollback

It's game on in the fiercely competitive media agency sector with the top performing boss at Omnicom's OMD, Aimee Buchanan, taking the reins at GroupM after three attempts by heavies at WPP's media unit to woo the fancied exec. After five years running OMD as Australia's top media operation, Buchanan will start her first group agency role in October. It is likely OMD will look outside the group for Buchanan's replacement, extending a high level round of musical chairs and putting more pressure on the pool of leadership talent, particularly for women.

What you need to know:

GroupM's five month CEO search is over, with OMD boss Aimee Buchanan taking over the role.
She replaces former boss Mark Lollback, who exited the business in March.
Buchanan has led OMD since 2016, growing it to one of the largest and best performing agencies in the Australian market.
After Buchanan was twice understood to have knocked back the CEO role, GroupM's third attempt landed its eagle last week.
Buchanan is likely to have secured a broad remit to overhaul the business but the priorities, politics and power will be vastly different to her old turf at Omnicom Media Group (OMG).
Renowned for running a tight and clean ship, Buchanan steps into the new role with high expectations to return the one-time powerhouse GroupM to market leadership.

GroupM has named Aimee Buchanan as CEO for Australia & New Zealand, joining the business in October.

The appointment follows an exhaustive search locally and globally, with the position left vacant since March, when former CEO Mark Lollback exited the business.

Buchanan had long been rumoured as GroupM's first choice but she is understood to have turned down the role at least twice in the past two months. Mi3 understands GroupM made another attempt and secured Buchanan some time last week.

GroupM's global CEO Christian Juhl was expected to visit Australia in August but has been moved to a virtual schedule because of Covid. Appointed in late 2019, Juhl moved across from GroupM's rising star, Essence, which he led during its 2015 buyout by WPP.

Essence, which counts global clients like telco BT, AirBnB, Argos, Google (global digital agency) and Sainsbury's, has not matched the success in Australia of its international network and will be one area of focus for Buchanan amid a big transformation agenda.

Juhl has been vocal on his concerns surrounding WPP's global media investment arm, telling UK trade title Campaign last November that “GroupM wasn’t a great place to work a year and a half ago”.

Juhl has been strident about pulling the business away from its traditional media agency roots to become "more like a software company".

“Essence was really formative for me in their use of technology and software as an OS [operating system] for the agency and I think GroupM can do the same," he told Campaign. “Five years from now, if I am successful, Group M will look more like a software company than it will a media agency."

Buchanan has been CEO of OMD since 2016 and sits on both the MFA and UnLtd boards. She has been vocal about some of the dark arts, hidden costs and undisclosed arbitrage on media inventory that she says was still common among her agency rivals at OMD. Buchanan now gets to look under the hood of one of them.

Her career spans more than 20 years in media agencies and OMD during her time has become the largest media agency brand in Australia, with blue chip clients including Telstra and McDonalds.

OMG CEO Peter Horgan has stepped in as interim OMD boss and was said to be working the phones yesterday with clients informing them of Buchanan's exit.

“Aimee has made an incredible contribution to OMD in her time with the business," Horgan said. "She has been a big part of the successful position the agency is in today, and for that we thank her immensely. We wish Aimee well in her new challenge.

“We are confident that we have the talent and structures in place for the continued success of OMD and our clients. The executive team and leadership across all offices is strong and we look forward to the next chapter.”

Buchanan said: "It is with a heavy heart that I leave my OMD friends and family. I have loved every step of the journey with this team and I am proud of what we have built and achieved together," Buchanan said.

"A big thank you to all of the OMDers across the nation, our clients and partners for all their support over the last 10 years. I am excited to take on the new role at GroupM and believe they are uniquely placed to influence how media drives growth for clients’ businesses and shapes society."

Buchanan joins a new look executive team, following the departure of GroupM executives Nicola Lewis and Venessa Hunt.

Seb Rennie returned earlier this year from Canada to fill the Chief Investment Officer role held by Lewis, while Deepak Tahiliani joined last months as the new digital investment lead.