Brian Lesser to head up GroupM’s North American operations
WPP's GroupM has announced the appointment of Brian Lesser as chief executive officer for its operations in the US and Canada.
Lesser, who previously held the position of global CEO at programmatic media and technology firm Xaxis, will take over from incumbent Kelly Clark as she migrates to an advisory role focussed on strategic initiatives with clients and speciality businesses over the next few months.
Dovetailing with these moves GroupM’s global chief digital officer Rob Norman will be handed the added responsibility of chairman in North America.
Global president Dominic Proctor commented: “Brian will be a huge part of our future and his appointment reflects our values and ambition, as well as WPP’s drive to achieve 40-45% of revenues from digital in five years.”
This management shake-up follows GroupM’s decision to prioritise data and technology following WPP’s investment in GroupM’s and Kantar Media’s partnership with Rentrak and recent alliances with BuzzFeed and Networked Insights.