Mediacom hires Sean Seamer as Australia CEO
Seamer
Troubled GroupM agency Mediacom has finally filled its vacant CEO position with the appointment of GroupM New Zealand boss Sean Seamer.
Mediacom has been leaderless locally since Mark Pejic quit in June, days before emerging as the new Melbourne chairman of rivals IPG Mediabrands.
Mumbrella revealed last year that Seamer would lead the GroupM expansion across the Tasman having previously held senior roles for the holding group in Singapore.
Mark Heap, Mediacom APAC CEO, commented on the appointment: “Sean has been one of the big success stories within Mediacom and I loved working with him previously. His background in digital leadership, his experience in developing the business and his ability to inspire those around him are exactly the capabilities we need.
“We looked at many potential candidates for this role and felt that Sean’s familiarity with our people, product, culture and clients really made him the stand out choice and will allow him to gain traction very quickly. He has worked with many of our senior people in Australia and I’m sure they will be as excited as I am to welcome him back as our new CEO.”
Global president of GroupM Dominic Proctor said Mediacom Australia has found a new local boss back in August.
Industry speculation suggested that senior Nine sales executive Matt James was to take the role but it later emerged that the two sides were unable to agree terms with James instead becoming CEO of Publicis’s ZenithOptimedia this week.
The agency is also looking to recover from losing several clients in recent months in the wake of a scandal after it emerged some employees had forged audience reports and the agency admitted to having charged a small number of clients for “value bank” inventory.
In the wake of the scandal major clients Foxtel and IAG moved their accounts to sister agency Mindshare, while Mediacom has also parted ways with clients Canon and EA Sports in recent months.
Mumbrella does not allege Pejic’s departure was related to those issues.
Seamer is a MediaCom veteran, who prior to his New Zealand posting was most recently based in Singapore where was chief business development officer.
Nic Christensen
The full announcement:
MediaCom has completed its search for a new CEO for its Australasian operations with the appointment of Sean Seamer as CEO, taking over leadership of the business in early November.
A MediaCom veteran, Seamer joins from his role as CEO GroupM New Zealand. Prior to GroupM New Zealand, Seamer spent 12 years working at MediaCom across the US, Europe and Asia Pacific.
He has intimate knowledge of the people, culture and product, plus close ties to the Australian operations from his time as a GroupM board member for Australasia and previously his APAC leadership roles.
Of his appointment, Seamer said: “MediaCom has been a huge part of my career and I’m very much looking forward to being back in the team. The talent in Australia and in the network is world class, so it will be a pleasure to work with them again. MediaCom Australia has great people, a strong product vision and some of the most diverse capabilities. It’s a really exciting time to be in the industry and I’m raring to get stuck in.”
MediaCom is a top 3 media agency in Australia, with estimated RECMA billings of $1.4 billion and 350 staff across Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
Seamer’s appointment follows the promotion of James Sneddon to managing director of the Sydney office and Anny Havercroft to Melbourne managing director.
Mark Heap, MediaCom APAC CEO, commented: “Sean has been one of the big success stories within MediaCom and I loved working with him previously. His background in digital leadership, his experience in developing the business and his ability to inspire those around him are exactly the capabilities we need. We looked at many potential candidates for this role and felt that Sean’s familiarity with our people, product, culture and clients really made him the stand out choice and will allow him to gain traction very quickly. He has worked with many of our senior people in Australia and I’m sure they will be as excited as I am to welcome him back as our new CEO.”
Mark Patterson, CEO and Chairman of GroupM APAC, who is acting Chairman of GroupM Australia, added: “Sean is a well-travelled, very broadly experienced, top class individual with the smarts and the style that make him a great leader in our business. He has excelled in all his roles and in the last twelve months has done a first rate job in establishing our business in NZ where he and I have worked closely. He is just the guy we need to lead MediaCom Australasia.”
So after a 4 month search GroupM APAC couldn’t successfully lure an external candidate, went back inside, closed the door and opened their cupboards…
They really need to work on their PR releases.
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Sean is a brilliant bloke and will do a great job leading MediaCom back into form…
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Hopefully this one understands what a TARP is…
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Congrats Sean great news. – After a few years I am sure you will want to apply for Aussie citizenship too!
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Congrats Sean – good luck with the new gig!
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Killer move. Congrats Sean.
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@Really – not sure why you are surprised. Why would an experienced agency leader want to jump ship to an agency losing clients and with a huge blemish on it’s record, struggling to rebuild trust. Not many I would say, especially in a market where CEO turnover is often enough for better opportunities to come up. The only predictable outcome was that they would appoint someone internal – who knows the culture, is unblemished by what happened with the scandal, and is driven enough to execute a turnaround. Good luck to this bloke .. He’ll need it. Most CEOs I know would run a mile from the sort of challenge Mediacom faces..
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MediaCom is definitely in safe hands with its newly appointed leadership team and the announcement of Sean. Look out…MediaCom is back!
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If only the previous management hadn’t driven out so much of their talent before it imploded
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A great appointment, Sean is a star. It’s a big job though.
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@ Look out-Thank you Mediacom employee
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No local experience or connections, plus a turnaround to deal with.
Best of luck to Sean!
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Seam-ers like a brilliant move! Except you can’t help but feel for the team in NZ that’s had the steam taken out of their pipes
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