IPG Mediabrands hires Starcom Mediavest’s Di Richardson for US chief strategy role
Richardson
IPG Mediabrands has hired senior media agency executive Di Richardson to be its chief strategy officer for UM’s USA operations as Henry Tajer continues his hiring spree.
Richardson has been executive director of Publicis agency Starcom Mediavest for the last 18 months and prior to that was chief strategy officer. She is also well known in the industry as the main author of the annual Starcom Media Futures report.
In a statement UM global CEO Daryl Lee said: “Di’s credentials reflect the caliber of executive we are looking to attract to UM”.
“She has a world class track record in delivering communications innovation and creativity, so to have her leading our US strategy is a very important development for the agency.”
Richardson joins a number of senior media agency executives moving across to the US, following the promotion of Henry Tajer to global CEO of IPG Mediabrands in March this year.
Richardson is the first executive to be taken from another local media agency for a US role however, while Tajer has previously promoted key local Mediabrands executives: Travis Johnson to a global role and Marc Lomas to a broader programmatic within the wider holding group.
Locally Mediabrands has been on a recruiting spree taking GroupM’s chief investment officer Danny Bass as its CEO, and Mediacom CEO Mark Pejic as chairman of its Melbourne operations.
In her new UM role Richardson will be move to New York and will report to UM USA president Kasha Cacy.
“Within the global industry Di is clearly a top tier talent and we are really looking forward to having her take on our US strategy leadership and also join the US management team,” said Cacy.
Richardson is currently a member of StarcomMediavest Group’s global product committee and has worked for the media agency for the past 10 years. Prior to that she was a marketer for 10 years with Mars and PepsiCo International.
On her new appointment she said: “I am driven by a fascination of what really motivates people and how their day-to-day choices can intersect with data, technology and creativity.
“My new UM role has a broad scope and a great team to work with, so I am looking forward to getting into the opportunities.”
Chris Nolan CEO of Starcom Mediavest told Mumbrella that he wished Richardson well and was pleased with her achievements.
“I’m really proud of her. Di is a great talent and it continues the trend of great Australian talent doing well on the global stage”, said Nolan.
Nic Christensen
topics
Di Richardson
Henry Tajer
IPG Mediabrands
Marc Lomas
Starcom Mediavest
strategy
Travis Johnson
UM
Well done Di and good luck!
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