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Christian Juhl becomes Group M’s global CEO following Kelly Clark’s departure

Christian Juhl will become Group M’s new global CEO from 1 October 2019, following Kelly Clark’s departure after almost three years in the role.

Juhl will move across from his current role as global CEO of WPP stablemate Essence, which he joined in 2013. In his role leading WPP’s media investment group, Juhl will now oversee 35,000 people and US$48bn in annual media billings.

Juhl begins in the new role in October

“Christian has the right combination of leadership, people and technology skills to build the modern media company, something he has demonstrated extraordinarily well at Essence,” said Mark Read, CEO of WPP.

“We have a great number of talented people across Group M and its agencies, and I have every confidence in Christian’s ability to be an outstanding leader to them and an outstanding partner to our clients.”

Clark became global CEO in 2016 with a three-year commitment, and will be involved in the transition, and continue on with WPP and Group M as a senior advisor.

“Kelly has had a very successful three years as CEO of Group M, reflected in its recent strong run of new business wins. I’d like to thank him for his dedication and leadership over many years with the company. I am delighted that he will support Christian during the transition and continue as a trusted senior advisor to the company,” Read said.

Clark added that he knows Group M has an “inspiring new leader”.

“Today, we’re stronger and better-positioned to help our clients win in an intensely competitive business environment,” he said.

“I know Christian will work well with our leadership team to build further and faster on our ability to contribute to client growth. All of us in Group M have an inspiring new leader.”

Juhl added: “I’m truly honoured and grateful for this opportunity to help deliver on Mark’s vision for WPP as a creative transformation company. Media frames the future for creativity, and Group M’s incredible agency brands, talent, client partnerships, and scale give us the unique opportunity to help reshape the industry and the way people think about advertising.”

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