Anne Parsons to quit Mediacom
Mediacom chairman Anne Parsons is leaving, sources within Group M have confirmed.
Mediacom team: Parsons, Jenner and Pejic
Her decision to leave follows a restructure of the media agency’s Australian operation which saw her in a far less hands-on role within the WPP agency.
Sydney based Toby Jenner (centre) and Melbourne-based Mark Pejic (right) now run the operation.
It is understood that she is taking time off and moving to one of her residences in Europe.
Parsons could not be reached for further comment.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Go Annie…..you’re looking forward to watching the fun from afar I’m sure
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Good luck Annie, always enjoyed working with you
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Better out than in….Good Luck AP
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@ Anon – agreed!
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All the best Annie. Enjoy it!
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“one of her residences in Europe”…i thought margins had been hammered?
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Damn Sven, you beat me to it! 😛
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Best wishes, Annie, you deserve every success… and now a decent break! Thanks for everything you’ve contributed to the industry, and to your very grateful clients.
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Every wish Annie; you were always a “leader” in everything that you did; even way back in the “learning” George Patts days. You have deserved every accolade and compliment bestowed to you.
But UR still a bit young ‘to smell the roses. One would think that you don’t want to just sit round and vegetate; your attributes and integrity are too good to be lost to this industry for long. So warmest wishes for your future., I will just sit around and see what transpires. But good to know, you have what you always have had; and that is, it is still “your choice”.
In the meantime; “just have a ball”.
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Punted…… but the spin is nice….
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Jealous of Belinda?
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good on her
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Sometimes the yearnings for the safety in the comedy of Charlie Chaplin has to move on. Toby Jenner represents the future of the agency, Annie just clung on to the past. Everyone’s comments above I’m sure are well meant but the numbers speak for themselves, the world has moved on and Toby is the future not someone that thinks the web is a ‘fad’
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Jeez; it doesn’t take long for the sharks with their cohorts and lapdogs to show themselves publicly; does it. Good on you “SABBATH”. Whose pocket are you pissing in or will you still continue to hide under a pseudonym, like all gutless wonders do.
Anyone that knows the lady well knows that SHRE IS NOT LOCKED IN A TIME-WARP. Quite the contrary actually. Let’s see hoe long it takes for leaks and/or insubordination to occur under this genius. And key client reaction too, let alone industry colleagues. I amongst a host of others will be watching this “genius” keenly.
Graeme
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PS: And why I am at it; come on and “out” yourself. Put your name and “any reputation” you clon behind your utterances, or do we all just have to continue guessing.
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PPS” Apologies; “clon” should have read “claim”.
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Nothing to do with ‘gutless wonders’ Graeme, I do know the lady well and clearly so do her ex-employers which is why changes have occurred. In a previous column it was discussed by Tim the difference between GroupM agencies in Australia vs. the UK and the time it takes for a re-wire. No-one asked why it needed a re-wire, the answer is simple, ‘new world vs. old world’. The reason why Mitchells and OMD are successful is because they are not lazy in success, they evolve with the times, Annie still thinks Betamax will win in the end!
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Ahh; got an answer if not a name out of you. Oh well; we’ll just leave that for the time being. That will undoubtedly come out with the effluction of time. But to your core argument.
Yes, I did read Tim’s posting with not only considerable interest but agreement – he is indeed a prescient and knowledgable figure, and eminemtly-qualified to make comment. But I do think that you miscast Anne; the lady I did know well was one of the foremost innovators of her generation, with the industry as a whole in furious agreement about that. No question about it. I would be very surprised to hear that she has changed the habits of a lifetime in just 3-5 years tops. So, from personal knowledge, I can’t answer in honesty for that period; but it would floor me if that is the case. It seems like I should make a few phone calls to old friends over the weekend or so. I shall do that willingly, and with due honesty.
Re. the otherv point; you don’t have to “out” yourself; that will come out one way or another when the time is appropriate.
And with regard to Mitchells and OMD; your comments about them are not only ‘spot on”, but self-evident. So we agree there too, because their results are in for all to see.
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@ Sabbath…..wonder where your pay check comes from???
Graeme, agree with all of your comments about Annie. Don’t be confused. This move has knowing to do with her leadership skills and everything to do with the ‘boys club” that now completely control Group M. Jenner is just a “member” of this group and has played local and international politics well. Talent and results not evident in any way. Now they haven’t had a good year. But what they don’t seem to grasp is that by taking Annie out they have guaranteed that next year will be no better!
Live by sword, die by the sword…. Boys….
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PS….please read “nothing” not “knowing”. But a certain irony in the mistake.
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The downsizing at mediacom this year seems to suggest they think the future is boutique agencies. Unless clients left them cos tey didn’t think they were that good.
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So Sabbath thinks Annie belongs in the past. Well DJ’s, the most successful department store in Australia bar none obviously don’t think so. They dumped Mediacom the moment Annie’s move was made public. If she was still there so would the business. As for Mitchells; a very powerful brand indeed. But never underestimate how much of its power is still directly linked to Harold’s network and influence. Lets be frank, not many people are sitting around waiting to hear what Stuart thinks. So show a bit of class Sabbath and give credit where its due. Annie Parsons’ career is one very very few in the industry will ever equal. And if she did get ‘punted’ then I would’ve hated to have been the one to write the cheque. Go Annie xxxx
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All I can say is Good Luck Mediacom ……..particularly when Annie returns to the Industry as I think you will need it!!
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ANNIEWATCH clearly hasn’t been following Mediacom’s development in the past few years otherwise they would have spotted that David Jones isn’t the first Client to leave. When you consider the total ‘departures’ that started before Toby’s arrival, either those Clients are all too stupid to recognize Annie’s visionary ability, didn’t want it or perhaps it was lacking. As the damn broke prior to her leaving, doesn’t it suggest that either something was wrong, or indeed if Graeme is right, her ‘influence’ was negligible thereby suggesting she wasn’t fulfilling her role. Harry M’s comments on Mitchells show how out of touch he is, Mitchell’s is a constantly evolving ‘trust’ brand, if it was my dollar, they would be one of the first few I would talk to.
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…………oh and ‘ANONYMOUS’ I think you’ll find that every agency will welcome Annie’s return to the industry so long as it’s not theirs!
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As an ex-WPP employee, I can only imagine Annie will be relieved to be able to actively disassociate from the boys club that is rife across the group – misogyny is alive and well.
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Thank you TALL. We said the other day “truth will out”; and it has. I should have picked it up earlier – it is only that, in this day and age, one thought that misogyny was well and truly dead. BUT JEALOUSY ISN’T. So. for those in the know; it should be relatively easy to pick out just who this great “Defender of Jenner’s Faith” (or ‘suck-up kid extraordinaire’ is. And, for the record, I hope that it does become public, as he obviously doesn;t gibve a &#$^ about whether his comments are truthful ot not. I.e.; just another “middle-rank loser”.
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@sabbath
1. Big assumption that I am male and shows your misogynistic frame of reference
2. I never mentioned Mitchell’s
Out of touch……the old “one pointing at me three pointing back at you” springs to mind. As for Annie’s culpability for the current state of the business. I have it on very good authority that Annie was told to keep out of the Sydney business and let Jenner “have his head”. In fact, she wasn’t even part of the Westpac pitch. This instruction came from “on high”. For the last year Mediacom Sydney has been the “Jenner” show.
Now lets look at what hasn’t been achieved in this time…here are the pitches not won….
– Vodafone
– Stuart Alexander
– Fed Government
– Westpac
– Yum
– Myer
These are just the ones that are common knowledge. I’m sure there are others (anyone care to add to the list??). And of course, lets not forget the loss of DJ, Westpac and some good people along the way while taken morale to an all time low.
I can’t wait for this genius to be spread nationally.
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@ Graeme – Mate, trust me this Sabbath guy isn’t worth getting all tense over. “suck-up kid” is a fairly accurate description. He does make a pretty good point about DJ’s not being Mediacom’s first client to leave…there have been quite a few in the last year……not to mention the staff that seem to have lost faith and found their way to the door. The departure of Annie marks a sad and shameful time for Groupm/Mediacom.
@ Sabbath – be careful – I wouldn’t be too quick to tell Harry M that he’s out of touch…the day may come when your knocking on his door looking for a job! You can’t fake it forever………
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@ Harry M – totally agreed!
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