GroupM appoints former Diageo and Colgate marketer as new head of e-commerce
WPP’s GroupM has appointed Sean Bone as general manager, commerce, and Adam Peruch as head of investment intelligence.
Bone joins with largely client-side experience, most recently at Diageo, where he was head of e-commerce and customer marketing. He replaces Roger Dunn, who was revealed to be leaving GroupM last week.
Prior to Diageo, Bone spent nine years at Colgate, with his final role, as global director for strategic innovation and technology alliances, based in New York. He will be tasked with leading GroupM’s commerce division, working with its agency’s existing data, technology, product and investment capabilities to “provide clients with expertise and support across the rapidly evolving commerce ecosystem”.
Bone and Paruch
On his appointment, Bone said: “E-commerce continues to evolve rapidly in both scale and sophistication, presenting an amazing opportunity for businesses that adapt, yet the skillsets and tools are challenging for many businesses to maintain in-house. GroupM and its agencies are brilliantly placed to unlock that opportunity for clients with a combination of world-leading products and super talented teams. I am excited to help amplify that capability with my own global and client-side experience.”
Adam Peruch’s appointment comes from within the group, as takes on his new role from MediaCom, joining as group investment director as recently as March this year.
His experience includes working both in media publishing and agencies, at companies including News Corp, Nine, Ikon Communications, Havas Media, Carat and The Media Store.
New GroupM CEO, Aimee Buchanan, who started her new role this month said: “We’re investing in building capabilities that help us support our agencies and their clients in areas that make a difference. Over the past 18 months we’ve seen commerce accelerate in Australia, and globally.
GroupM CEO, Aimee Buchanan
“Sean has been at the forefront of that and we’re extremely pleased to have someone of his experience and expertise join the team to weave together marketing, innovation, technology and commerce. His client-focused perspective means that he will have a laser-sharp focus on what our clients need, and how our agencies can deliver it, now and in the future. Adam’s depth of experience brings a vital layer of intelligence and insight to our Investment & Partnerships team, which will complement and support Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker and Essence.”
Peruch added: “GroupM’s approach to responsible investment provides a framework for industry-leading work. I’m excited to be part of that journey and bring valuable insights that connect the data and knowledge that we have into strategic investment insights. Automation across on and offline enables improved speed to market, accuracy and allows more time for strategic thinking that helps both our agencies and our clients make decisions on how and where they can best invest their marketing dollars.”
His role will see him working with investment leads across the GroupM agencies to “build a business intelligence bridge between technology and teams, utilising GroupM’s data assets to shape insights and meaningful, actionable stories for our clients”.
GroupM announced in September that WPP’s AKQA Media would be merging with Essence, to become part of the investment group, with Pat Crowley appointed as its CEO.
This will come into effect on 1 January 2022 and also follows the consolidation of Ikon and AKQA Media earlier this year to form AKQA Media. This is part of a wider WPP global strategy to focus on “fewer, stronger brands that deliver expert services to clients”.
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