Mindshare, EssenceMediacom China chiefs exit

Two of China’s senior agency leaders, Benjamin Condit, CEO of Mindshare China, and Benjamin Wei, CEO of EssenceMediacom China, are set to exit their roles, Campaign has learned. The departures come hot on the heels of GroupM’s official rebrand as WPP Media.

Condit, who joined Mindshare Shanghai in 2012 as a digital partner, quickly rose through the ranks, landing big pitch wins as chief strategy officer before taking the helm in 2021. Under his watch, Mindshare China retain and expand its Yili media-planning account and Nike among others in 2022. However, last year the agency suffered setbacks, losing Dyson and Yum to rival Publicis.

Meanwhile Wei, who joined GroupM in 2010, set up the group’s digital innovation hub MLab in Beijing before moving up to managing director of mobile marketing. He has led Essence China since 2019, driving business growth and a data-driven transformation, and was named CEO of EssenceMediacom in 2022 ahead of the agency merger.

Benjamin Wei and Benjamin Condit

Campaign reached out to WPP on the departures but the agency group declined to comment on individual personnel matters.

These exits land amid a wave of leadership changes across WPP Media, including recent redundancies in Indonesia, a new market CEO appointment, and UK staff being notified of roles at risk.