Interpublic Group has put in motion a succession plan for its media asset – IPG Mediabrands that includes agencies such as UM, Initiative and digital assets like Reprise amongst others. Henry Tajer has been elevated to the post of CEO while Matt Seiler has been named the Chairman of the group. The development takes effect from May 2015. Mr Seiler would be the Chairman through 2015 to ensure smooth transition to Mr Tajer’s leadership.
Mr. Tajer, who was named Mediabrands’ Global COO in January of 2014, will be re-locating full-time to New York from Sydney, where he currently spends a portion of his time in his role as CEO of the group’s Australian operations.
“IPG Mediabrands has consistently shown itself to be on the vanguard of the industry in terms of thought leadership, digital capabilities and new operating models, as well as bringing a high degree of accountability to its client engagements. Today’s announcement is part of a long-term game plan and a natural evolution for the management team. It acknowledges Matt and Henry’s contributions to the agency’s achievements and positions them to focus on specific areas in which they can both continue to make key contributions to Mediabrands and IPG going forward,” commented Michael Roth, Chairman and CEO of Interpublic.
“In his role as Chairman for the balance of this year, we’ll look to Matt to continue providing a broad strategic vision for the group, which is something that’s made us a leader in digital and data-enabled marketing. Henry is a great media executive, who is valued by our people, clients and media partners. He’s made Australia one of the growth engines for our network, with a vibrant and collaborative work environment in which new capabilities continue to come to the fore,” added Mr. Roth.
“In executing on a strategic vision that’s led us to embrace automation, pay-for performance and a truly innovative mindset, our leadership team has laid a solid foundation for long-term success. The fact that we’ve delivered such outstanding results for our clients and for IPG is a testament to our entire senior management team and I look forward to guiding them further during this transitional period. Our people and our clients are in terrific hands with them and with Henry at the helm,” commented Mr Seiler, who can be credited with the IPG Mediabrands current structure and its focus areas that had re-energised the media investment units of IPG. His tenure was also the time that the agency established IPG Media Lab, a forward thinking approach that brought technology ‘inside’ the agency.
Mr Tajer said, “Matt’s leadership has challenged us to stretch the definition of what a media agency can be and we are thankful to him, as well as to Interpublic for their support in that endeavor. Our clients are among the world’s most progressive marketers and I look forward to engaging with them and our teams around the world, as we lead Mediabrands into its next phase of growth and development.”
