Joe Pollard departs Publicis Australia, replaced by Ogilvy’s Andrew Baxter
Pollard
Baxter
Publicis Worldwide’s Australia CEO Joe Pollard has left the group for “personal reasons” less than two years after joining and been replaced by Ogilvy Australia boss Andrew Baxter.
The surprise news came overnight from Publicis’ Paris headquarters, but sees Baxter assume control of all Publicis Worldwide assets in Australia, including the struggling Publicis Mojo creative agency, and the 300 strong customer service operation.
Pollard joined the group in June 2012, after stints as CEO of NineMSN and client side at Nike in the US, but has struggled to turn around the fortunes of Mojo, which has lost a number of key clients in recent years, including the majority of its Qantas work.
The problems at Mojo were so entrenched that by the time Joe identified and eliminated them the damage was irreparable. At least she tried.
“Our Australian business is in very good shape”
wowee
I give it 12 months before there is an “anschluss” of Mojo into Leo’s and Saatchis.
A woman’s work is never done..and sometimes no matter how much you scrub at them you just cannot remove all the stains. Good on you for trying though Joe (and all the other female CEO’s in this country who get appointed to clean up the shittiest of corporate messes)
@ Tellyprompter –
I am mystified at how this has become an anti female conspiracy. Joe took on a tough gig and couldn’t re-float a rapidly sinking ship. But Publicis is in worse shape now, so I’d argue Andrew Baxter has the bigger mess to sort out.
There is also long list of male CEOs that have been appointed to struggling companies who have had varying levels of success. People are appointed to these roles as they are seen as having the best chance of turning around the company. To suggest otherwise is insulting to the likes of Joe.
You can’t expect anyone with no Creative agency experience to run Creative agency. It was always destined to end this way.
@Tellprompter, I really don’t understand how you’ve made gender an issue here. It’s of no relevance whatsoever.
agree with KGB
Tellyprompter, you can’t have it both ways – if she was fired underservingly because she was female, was she also hired undeservingly for the same reason?
CEOs are accountable for the success of their organisation. Mojo was a mess when she inherited it but it is even messier now. Only Brisbane, of the three offices is in anything like OK shape and two years in, you would need very strong binoculars to see any signs of a turnaround or forward momentum.
Steveo, to suggest Jo, a highly regarded senior marcoms exec with Nike and NineMSN experience, wouldn’t know how to run an agency is juvenile? Anyone with any knowledge of the mess Mojo was left in knows [and trust me – many senior people in this industry do know] appreciate the all but impossible task Jo faced. She should be given a medal for lasting 2 years.
Firstly, Joe spells her name Joe.
Secondly, I stand by my comment.
Being a shrewd Businesswoman with big brand experience does not mean you have the required skills to run a creative agency.
How many clients has the business won whilst under her leadership? Tourism NT, Oportos.
How many has it lost? Hahn, Toyota, Qantas.. are there more?
There must be a huge revenue gap. One that she will have been vouching for.
A creative agency is always measured by the work they produce.
Mojo is not producing good work.
Grant will help with that.
But it is impossible with no clients.
Get a grip people. The well was so poisoned when she took over, probably much more than she realised, that the issue was not gender but the elephant in the room which she soon spotted and showed the door.
That’s what I’ve been trying to say all day
@Steveo you are half right; creative was the problem with the clients you mentioned, and some you didn’t, looking for the door before she arrived.
To clarify my earlier comment, Joe took on a job akin to a grenade with the pin pulled. Mojo has been a dysfunctional mess for a very long time and there was no saving it.
But it had nothing to do with gender.
And Steveo, your comments demonstrate you know little, if anything, about what was happening at Mojo when Joe took over; and even less about the on-going legacy of its previous management.
Interesting comments by all. Mojo in it’s day was more gender neutral than any company. The previous Board drove the agency into the ground. Joe was given very clear advice my many ex staffers which she chose to ignore. Mojo should not be such a difficult fix – it has brand heritage – something we all bang on about every day to our clients in pitches. It had an excellent cache of client work to show. It created some of the best talent in the country who spread their wings elsewhere applying those learnings and developing them into new territories.
It’s sad to see any agency go into decline – but staff can only be as good as their leaders allow.
If they had the balls they should have sacked them all, invest in the best talent and get on with the job they are supposed to do. Look after clients and sell products basically.
Don’t hypothesise – with the new merger, everything and everyone is in the line of a smoking gun…
Be Careful out there it’s a jungle kids.
Andrew Baxter’s smart as. He’s got this. Everybody move on.