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Luke Littlefield steps up as Aegis CEO

Luke Littlefield AegisLuke Littlefield has been promoted to CEO of Aegis Media Pacific in a move that positions him as credible successor to chairman Harold Mitchell.

However, the announcement also makes clear that Mitchell – founder of Mitchell & Partners which was acquired by Aegis Media last year – remains at the helm.

The announcement said: “Luke will continue to report to Chairman Harold Mitchell and Deputy Chairman Stuart Mitchell.”

At the time of posting Mitchell himself could not be reached for comment as he was on a flight to London. He joined the global board of Aegis after the merger gave him a substantial shareholding in the company.

Local Aegis media brands include Mitchells, Carat, Vizeum and a majority ownership of MPG. Across Australia and New Zealand the company employs nearly 1000 people.  

Littlefiled joined the Mitchell Communication Group in December 2007 as chief operating officer.

In a press release Mitchell said: “With Luke as COO of the Mitchell Communication Group and more recently Aegis Media Pacific for the past three and a half years, we have consistently grown and maintained our number one market position in the region.”

“Since our merger with Aegis Media last year, we have consolidated the 26 businesses which are now part of our group. We are by far the biggest single communications group in the region, representing close to a quarter of all advertising dollars spent by agencies in the market and have not lost a major client to our competitors in recent years.”

The release also included a comment from Harold Mitchell’s son Stuart, deputy chairman. He said: “Luke has done an outstanding job in his role as Chief Operating Officer. His appointment to CEO is the logical and best step for Aegis Media Pacific.”

Littlefield said: “I’m honoured and excited to have the opportunity to lead our business in the Pacific region, where there is enormous potential for further growth both locally and amongst the global clients of Aegis Media. Recent highlights for our business include the continued rapid pace of growth in our digital businesses, market share growth in the key markets of Perth and Brisbane and a steady increase in the number of clients taking advantage of our diversified service offering across numerous marketing communications disciplines.”

Littlefield also signalled that reviving Aegis’ stuttering local presence of its second string global media network Vizeum is a priority. He said: “There are exciting times ahead as we look to introduce Aegis Media’s world brands in the local market, including media agency Vizeum which we expect to have a significantly greater presence here in the future.”

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