Several senior APAC leaders have departed IPG Mediabrands as Omnicom's acquisition of IPG takes effect.
Details of Omnicom’s new APAC operating model can be read here, but headline changes include the formal appointment of TBWA’s Sean Donovan as president of creative arm Omnicom Advertising Asia and OMG APAC CEO Tony Harradine, who will now oversee the region’s consolidated media organisation. His remit spans all six legacy media networks: OMD, PHD, Hearts & Science, and former IPG agencies Mediahub, Initiative and UM, under a single structure.
As the integration moves forward, several senior IPG Mediabrands leaders across APAC have exited the business.
IPG Mediabrands APAC CEO Leigh Terry has stepped down after nine years in the role. Terry, who previously served as CEO of OMG Australia and New Zealand and MD of OMD Australia, wrote on LinkedIn: “Leading this team has been a privilege… I’ll be taking some time out before considering my next chapter.”
APAC chief client officer James Hawkins has also exited roughly a year after the role was created. Before joining IPG Mediabrands, he led PHD APAC for six years.
Mark Coad has also departed as CEO of IPG Mediabrands Australia. He oversaw agencies including UM, Initiative, Reprise, and Magna for nearly six years. Kristiaan Kroon, previously chief operating officer at OMG Australia, has been confirmed as CEO of Omnicom Media Australia.
"It has been a big news week, which marks the end of an incredible chapter," Coad said on LinkedIn. "We are part of a great industry that I’ve always been immensely proud of, and I'm not done with it yet!"
Australia's longtime chief financial officer, John Clements, has exited following nine years at IPG Mediabrands. He first joined the agency as group financial director in 2016. Omnicom's Donna Bartlett, who has been with the company for two decades, has been named CFO.
In addition, Magna managing director Formosa Morgan has left her post, which she undertook in 2022. She spent nearly nine years as investment chief at Omnicom's PHD.
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Campaign has learned that the CEO of IPG Mediabrands Thailand, Tharaputh Charuvatana, has exited his role, which he has held since 2017. He was previously managing director at UM Thailand.
These redundancies are among a wider plan by Omnicom to scrap 4,000 positions globally as part of its overhaul, bringing cumulative cuts tied to the merger to around 10,000 roles. The total job cuts amount to about 8% of the joint headcount last year.
