Sydney-based Smith's main responsibility will be to cross-sell the
group's various communications offerings - advertising, direct,
interactive and PR. Jeffrey Yu, Bates Asia president in Hong Kong, will
report to Smith, who was previously head of international in New
York.
Under the worldwide restructuring, Cordiant also appointed former
Goodman Fielder chief executive David Hearn as chairman and CEO of
Bates. Originally from the UK, Hearn used to head United Biscuits'
European snack foods division before joining Goodman Fielder in
Australia in 1995. During his career he has also worked at PepsiCo, Del
Monte, SC Johnson and Procter & Gamble.
He takes over at Bates during a troubled time. In the US, Bates has lost its long-standing Hyundai Motor account, which represents seven per cent of its global revenue.