Omnicom appoints Tony Harradine to the newly created position of chief investment officer
Harradine
Holding group Omnicom has today created a new position of chief investment officer for the $1.8bn advertising group, appointing Tony Harradine in a move that will see OMD CEO Peter Horgan step back from media negotiations.
The appointment marks a change for Omnicom (OMG) which has traditionally not had someone on the group level leading investment with CEO of the group Leigh Terry telling Mumbrella: “We have different trading philosophies but having someone who is across everything that we are doing is useful.
“This is not just about relationships with the media because of course we have very strong agency CEO leads as well as trading leads.”
“We have called it investment in terms of wider initiatives in terms of understanding the broader market. This is not just about doing media deals we wanted someone with a wider commercial lens.”
Many of OMG’s rivals such as IPG Mediabrands and GroupM have a central investment director.
Harradine has worked around the world and has most recently been working with OMG’s barter division Omnet. He has previously worked in New York as an executive vice president of the Interpublic Group and prior to that was at Active International here in Australia.
Harradine said of his appointment: “This is the perfect time for OMG to further capitalise in the investment area, due to the sustained growth of the Group as seen with recent pitch wins.
“The investment talent within the OMG Group is second to none, and I am humbled and excited at the opportunity to lead this team.”
In a statement, Horgan commented on relinquishing his remit over negotiations: “Media deals have always been a function I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, and I will continue to foster a close working relationship with the sales leads across the industry.
“With the growing demands of running a large and complex media business, I’m happy to hand the reins of deal leadership and management to Tony.
“He has the reputation and approach to continue driving innovation and value extraction across the group’s client portfolio.”
Harradine will directly report into Leigh Terry.
Omnicom in Australia included OMD, PHD, M2M and Foundation media agencies.
Nic Christensen
