The appointment brings to an end a seven-year private consultancy stint Dumont embarked on, after leaving Edelman in 1998. He will report to group vice-chairman and Asia-Pacific chairman/ CEO Michael Birkin.
Dumont has been charged with building the group's brand name. "It is important to promote the Omnicom brand," said Dumont. "Most developed markets see a need to just promote individual brands. In China and India, in particular, it is very important that clients know there is a solid organisation behind these companies. The competition has already taken this approach. Omnicom is known among the financial community, but not by clients."
Dumont said his role would span Omnicom's creative, media and diversified agency services group. "We have some very established brands, others that are just starting out and some not even present in the market. All will require different levels of support."
During his 20-year career, Dumont has been retained as a high-level advisor by governments and multilateral bodies such as the World Health Organisation, the Beijing Municipal Government and the French Government.
Dumont to lift Omnicom branding in China, India
Omnicom has taken on strategic communications professional Serge Dumont as senior vice-president, Omnicom Group, and president for Asia-Pacific.