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Aimee Buchanan takes on GroupM CEO role

OMD Australia Chief executive officer, Aimee Buchanan is leaving the Omnicom Group for competitor WPP AUNZ.

Buchanan will take up the vacant role of GroupM chief executive officer. She will join GroupM in October to lead the network of agencies including Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker, Essence, Neo and m/SIX and specialty media businesses including Finecast, Xaxis and Sightline.

The role was vacated by Mark Lollback who left the business in March after five years in the position.

Lollback was part of a string of senior leaders to leave WPP AUNZ in the months leading up to the takeover by WPP Plc, which then saw CEO Jens Monsees also step down.

Buchanan has been in the role at OMD since October 2016, taking over from Peter Horgan who stepped up to lead the wider Omnicom Group.

Ashutosh Srivastava, GroupM APAC CEO and acting CEO GroupM Australia says: “Aimee is an exceptional agency leader with a phenomenal track record and an intimate knowledge of what clients need, and how agencies and their people thrive. She is a truly visionary leader, whose priorities and integrity align with ours. She is client obsessed and always puts her people and culture first.

“GroupM’s purpose is to harness intelligence and imagination to create, integrate and scale breakthrough ideas that help businesses leap forward. Aimee is the perfect person to lead GroupM’s ambitious program of change, enable our agencies to succeed and enhance their capabilities to meet current and future client needs and drive faster growth in the business.”

Peter Horgan, CEO of Omnicom Media Group, Australia and New Zealand, will be covering the OMD CEO duties whilst an executive search is undertaken for Buchanan’s replacement.

Horgan commented: “Aimee has made an incredible contribution to OMD in her time with the business. She has been a big part of the successful position the agency is in today, and for that we thank her immensely. We wish Aimee well in her new challenge.”

“We are confident that we have the talent and structures in place for the continued success of OMD and our clients. The Executive team and leadership across all offices is strong and we look forward to the next chapter.”

Buchanan was promoted to the position of Sydney general manager of OMD and joined the National Executive Team in January 2013 following her work and leadership across the global Tourism Australia and Telstra business. Buchanan joined OMD in 2011.

She started her career at Mitchells in 2000, before spending eight years with MPG in a series of client roles.

Meanwhile, WPP AUNZ has also promoted Paul Rushton-Clarke to chief commercial officer of WPP in Australia and New Zealand. He was formerly chief financial officer, public relations and public affairs, has been with WPP AUNZ for the past 15 years.

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