More changes at Clemenger Group as CEO Les Timar steps down
The chief executive officer of Clemenger Group, Les Timar, has announced he will step down at the end of the month after 27 years with the company.
Timar first joined Clemenger Group in 1998 when it acquired a majority stake in his company GRACosway. He was appointed to the CEO role in 2021, and worked to “enhance” the group’s capabilities and client offering.
Clemenger Group’s agencies include Clemenger BBDO, Colenso BBDO, Porter Novelli, and Redhanded, among others.
He has “decided that this is the right time for new leadership”, following Monday’s news of Omnicom looking to acquire the remaining employee-owned shares of Clemenger Group.
According to a report in The Australian, shareholders will vote on a deal on June 30 for Omnicom to increase its ownership of the group from 86.84% to the full 100%.
Former Omnicom talent Nick Garrett is tipped to lead a corresponding Oceania structure if the shareholder vote is successful, overseeing Omnicom Advertising Group — of which Clemenger is a part of — and Omnicom Media Group.
Les Timar
“It has been the greatest privilege of my career to serve as the CEO of this truly extraordinary, storied and diverse company,” Timar said in a media release.
“I have had the opportunity of working with so many talented people who have brought their innovative thinking and boundless energy to our clients’ most important business problems.”
Timar thanked outgoing chair Robert Morgan, as well as Peter Clemenger and Hylton Mackley.
BBDO Worldwide will make “further announcements” in due course about Clemenger Group’s leadership. In the interim, the group’s chief operating and financial officer, Adrian Ciabotti, will lead.
Earlier this month, Clemenger Group also announced that Morgan would be retiring after 46 years with the company. He became CEO in 1998, a role he stayed in until the end of 2021, when Timar succeeded him.
Morgan was also chairman of the group, a role he held for over 23 years.
Of Timar’s departure, Morgan said: “It has been my privilege to work with Les Timar for the past 27 years. He is an outstanding leader and has done a brilliant job as CEO of Clemenger Group over the past four years.
“An all-time great Clemenger person!”
Omnicom’s potential local management structure is conditional on the Clemenger Group ownership negotiations.
Mumbrella understands there is some discontent in the group following the Clemenger BBDO, Chep Network, and Traffik merger earlier this year. The three agencies consolidated to form the new Clemenger BBDO, led by Chep’s former CEO Lee Leggett.
As a result of the consolidation’s inevitable restructure, several senior leaders departed in recent months, including Chep’s CCO Gavin McLeod and CSO Lilian Sor, and Clemenger BBDO’s CEO Dani Bassil, CCO Adrián Flores, and chief growth officer Anita Zanesco.
Clemenger BBDO’s chief media officer, Anna Cherry, is the latest to announce her departure, joining Bastion Media as its new managing director.
A small number of redundancies have also occurred in the months that have followed.
Clemenger BBDO has, however, welcomed Stephen de Wolf back to the fold as its new national CCO.
While these negotiations continue, Omnicom is also globally preparing for its acqusition of IPG. This deal is subject to regulatory approvals, including from the ACCC. The competition watchdog will release the preliminary findings of its review on July 24.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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