PHD names inaugural EMEA chief executive

Omnicom Media Group media agency PHD Worldwide has appointed its inaugural EMEA chief executive following two years of new business growth.

Toby Hack, who was previously the CEO of PHD Global Business, takes the reins across the region, while Christian Flouch has been appointed to the new role of worldwide chief client officer. Both appointments are effective immediately.

Hack has been with PHD for the past 12 years, including stints as managing director of PHD Australia and, for the past seven years, leading the network’s global business team. He has played a prime role in helping the agency win and onboard two of PHD Worldwide’s largest global clients, Volkswagen Group and HSBC.

He will preside over a media agency network that has 62 offices in 51 markets across EMEA, including recent additions in Turkey and Serbia. Total adspend in the region is expected to reach $159bn (£138bn) in 2022.

This year, PHD Worldwide has added $835m in incremental new-business billings, placing the network at the top of the most recent COMvergence rankings for new business growth.

“Since 2020, PHD has been named media AOR for a number of global brands, including Diageo, Chanel and Ekaterra, whose deep commitments in EMEA demand a higher-level of on-the- ground, hands-on executive leadership in the region,” PHD Worldwide CEO Philippa Brown said.

“At the same time, the scale of their imprint and the scope of their transformation and growth ambitions require a C-level, centralised approach to strategic oversight and solutions delivery.”

Hack will be based in London and report to Brown and Omnicom Media Group EMEA chief executive Guy Marks.

In the UK, PHD is led by Ali Reed, who joined from Essence in 2021.

“Toby’s track record in growing and building successful businesses, running international operations, and expanding capabilities and service offerings speaks for itself,” Marks said.

“As CEO, he will bring to bear the full force of OMG’s tools, partnerships and technology to assure that PHD EMEA clients – global and local, current and future – can successfully navigate a changing marketplace and optimise emerging channels to drive business growth.”

Hack added: “It's been a privilege to play a role in PHD's significant growth for over a decade. I look forward to working even more closely with my talented colleagues across EMEA to further expand our value proposition across the region.”

Flouch has been appointed worldwide chief client officer after two years as global president of PHD’s Diageo account, which the network won just before Covid lockdowns came into force in 2020. The alcohol giant was onboarded virtually under Flouch’s leadership.

He will oversee PHD’s relationship with clients and help brands "enhance and optimise their experience across all touchpoints of the customer journey".

“Christian understands that high-touch, high-value relationships between brands and their customers begin with high-touch, high value relationships between brands and their agencies and, more importantly, he knows how to build each of these engagement types to deliver results for our clients,” Brown said.

Flouch joined OMG four years ago from beer multinational AB InBev, where he spent more than a decade in several senior marketing and media roles, including global director of media and digital, and senior brand manager of Budweiser UK.

“Since joining OMG from AB InBev four years ago, I have been the point of intersection between the voice of the agency and the client, bringing both perspectives together to build collaborations that deliver transformational outcomes,” Flouch said.

“This new role offers an opportunity to operationalise this approach at the global level to drive business growth for our clients and our agencies all over the world.”