OMD’s Nathan Young to follow Aimee Buchanan to GroupM
WPP’s GroupM has landed a second coup in a matter of months from Omnicom Media Group’s OMD, as the agency’s chief operating officer is set to move across to take up the role of chief growth officer.
Nathan Young joined OMD as business development and marketing director in 2015, moving through the ranks before being appointed COO by Buchanan in May 2019. OMD has not made any comment on a replacement.
Young has worked alongside incoming GroupM CEO Aimee Buchanan for several years at OMD, and the two will reconnect at the WPP agency group later this year.
Nathan Young
A GroupM spokesperson said: “We continue to expand our expert capabilities as we evolve our business and shape the next era of media. Nathan’s extensive experience in commercial strategy, business operations & transformation, exceptional client and team management skills make him perfectly placed to join our team in GroupM and work closely with our agencies. Nathan brings with him over 20 years’ experience, both agency and sales side, and will be a fantastic addition to complement our teams. We are thrilled to welcome him in Q4.”
The past few months have signalled a new era for GroupM, with what looks like an increased remit for the overarching group that encompasses Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker, Essence, Neo and m/SIX and specialty media businesses including Finecast, Xaxis and Sightline.
This period saw Mark Lollback leave his post as GroupM CEO in March, with Buchanan being appointed as his replacement last month. Willie Pang was also revealed last month to be leaving the group, to join tech startup Limepay, after only taking up his role as managing director of GroupM Services earlier this year, moving from MediaCom.
Sebastian Rennie made his move within the global GroupM structures when he returned from a stint in Canada to take up the chief investment officer position at GroupM Australia and New Zealand in June.
GroupM incoming CEO, Aimee Buchanan
OMG CEO Peter Horgan is currently operating as interim CEO for OMD while the replacement for Buchanan carries on, with appointment to be made in the coming months, following an internal and external search.
Horgan told Mumbrella that he has cast the net wide in order to find the right person to fit the OMD community.
He described it as “the best job going in advertising”, and that he would love to replace a high profile female with another high profile female, but that does not close off all options.
Jens Monsees was stood down from his role as CEO of WPP AUNZ earlier this year, and with the role still an open vacancy, this points to a greater remit for the GroupM CEO role.
Buchanan is currently on gardening leave and will take up her post at next month, with Young expected to join shortly after.
In another move between the media agency groups this year, OMG analytics, data and tech agency Annalect hired GroupM’s former head of investment intelligence Liesa Newland to take up the newly created role of head of data infrastructure and integration.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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