New heads cited in GroupM's rejig

The reshuffle is thought to be a response to accommodate WPP's burgeoning media operations in the region, following WPP's acquisition of Grey last year, which brought an additional media agency brand MediaCom into the fold, and significant growth by WPP's largest Asia-Pacific media network, MindShare. MindShare regional chairman John Steedman, who assumes responsibility for GroupM region-wide and its Australasian operations, said: "What's happened is obviously MediaCom's come on board, and we thought it was a natural evolution for the company." He also added that the budget for the new layer of management will come out of agency operations. At a sub-regional level, responsibilities for GroupM North Asia have passed to Mark Patterson, MindShare's North Asia CEO, while Andre Nair, MEC's regional head who is already GroupM chairman in India, has also been handed the GroupM brief for Southeast Asia. MindShare's former Southeast Asia CEO Nick Waters has been charged with the regional MindShare CEO role, while David Morgan, takes on a similar role for MEC. It is also believed that MindShare Thailand CEO Kevin Clarke will take on the regional chief role of MediaCom, a brand which has so far failed to gain real traction in Asia, although Steedman denied any such arrangement "at this point in time". A new network of national GroupM heads has also been appointed, as part of the reporting line between individual agency heads and the GroupM sub-regional heads. GroupM chiefs who are taking charge of their respective markets include MindShare China CEO Bessie Lee, MEC Thailand executive chairman Mana Jantanayingyong, MindShare Malaysia CEO Henry Tan, MindShare Hong Kong CEO KK Tsang and MindShare Philippines managing director Mitos Borromeo.