John Steedman returns as chairman of WPP Media Services for Australia and New Zealand

Less than a year after he quit the GroupM CEO and chairman’s role, John Steedman is back, after Sir Martin Sorrell convinced him to take the newly-created chairman of WPP Media Services.

Steedman: Focus will be on getting agencies to work together but structure within the group will remain unchanged

Steedman’s new role will see him work with the group’s various media agencies – Maxus, MEC, Mindshare, Mediacom, Ikon and minority shareholding, Bohemia – on the over-arching business strategy. The appointment follows another recent appointment, to the WPP AUNZ board, earlier this month.

WPP AUNZ CEO Michael Connaghan praised Steedman’s return, saying: “John has an innate ability to get business cooperating for the benefit of clients. It’s what drove the success of GroupM under his stewardship, and will no doubt result in further growth across the newly-expanded media capability of WPP AUNZ.