Pete Bosilkovski quits as joint CEO of WPP’s VMLY&R
Joint chief executive of VMLY&R, Pete Bosilkovski, has quit the business, seven months after being appointed to the role following WPP’s merger of VML and Y&R.
Bosilkovski has been joint CEO of the merged agency with Aden Hepburn as WPP worked to integrate the two agencies’ operations.
Bosilkovski was CEO at Leo Burnett prior to joining Y&R
Bosilkovski was hired as Y&R’s regional CEO following the departure of Phil McDonald’s in 2018.
His joining the WPP AUNZ owned agency came after nine years at Leo Burnett which he joined as client services director in 2009 before being promoted to the role of managing director five years later.
He held the MD title for almost four years before being promoted to CEO in 2015 to replace celebrity CEO Todd Sampson.
WPP AUNZ interim CEO John Steedman said Bosilkovski played an intrinsic role during the integration of the two agencies but with the process nearing completion, had opted to pursue other opportunities and seek new challenges.
“It has been highly beneficial to have Aden and Pete work together as joint CEOs particularly in the early stages of the merger. Both have been working tirelessly to bring VML and Y&R together in this market to create what is already proving to be a market-leading, fully integrated digital and creative offering, and we thank them both for their professional approach and keen eye for optimal business outcomes.
“Pete now leaves the business with our gratitude and best wishes.”
Bosilkovski said: “I was enticed to Y&R by the offer of a very specific brief to revitalise the brand in Australia and New Zealand. The opportunity to work with (former) WPP AUNZ CEO Mike Connaghan, who I have had a great professional relationship with for a long time, was an absolute bonus. The VMLY&R leadership structure is a different brief and I have decided to resign in my joint CEO role. I wish Aden the best of luck.
“I’m exceptionally proud of my talented team, their commitment to executing our transformation plan and the successes we achieved in my time in the role. I also would like to thank our fantastic client partners for all their support and belief in creating world-class creative solutions. I wish them all the success in the future. I’m now in the process of planning out my next chapter.”
‘resigns’
in truth, Pete was dealt a hospital pass and the VML leadership and management were always going to ‘win’ this one, particularly after the WPP AUNZ CEO left.
not that the ‘win’ is much of a prize
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Got dealt a crap hand. From the outside seems that this was a merge where global mandate was VML c-suite leadership are now in charge, regardless of region/performance. Exceptions would have been made here and there but Australia is small fry. Ain’t getting a look in.
Best of luck Pete.
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Looking forward to your next gig, Pete. Good luck, mate
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In every merger there is always a victim and a victor. Usually the wrong one .
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Pete is an inspirational leader, a passionate entrepreneur, and above all, a wonderful human.
His leadership and partnership will be genuinely missed by all that worked closely with him.
Wishing him every success as he surely moves onto bigger and bolder things.
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All the best Pete with whatever you do next.
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Unlike Campaign Brief, the comments section at Mumbrella is still open on this one.
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Seems to be a lot of deleting of comments lately on CB especially anything to do with a certain Melbourne agency associated with pwc
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Yep we asked them to be deleted as they are often purile or vitriolic.
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But can said agency ever do wrong? Aren’t they promoted as the best of the Melbourne agency landscape?
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Saw that. At least 2 rounds of comments deleted now and back down to zero. Someone wants this to pass with silence from all.
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Given Y&R (not VML) just won defence — seems like a tough break to let Pete go as that comes onboard.
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So CB can play favourites by banning comments when his mates ask him to? Both an adam ferrier and pete bos story have no comments allowed …
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