Former Havas Worldwide CEO Russ Lidstone heads to experiential agency WRG
Russ Lidstone, the former chief executive of Havas Worldwide, has joined experiential agency WRG as CEO.
WRG, which counts clients such as Shell, Adidas and Google on its roster, hopes the hire will steer the business 'into a new era of communications'.
Lidstone departed from Havas in January 2015 amid the group's infamous 'client-centric' restructure.
He will divide his time between WRG’s bases in Manchester, London, Hong Kong, Philadelphia and Basel.
The chief executive post as been empty since November 2015, when the previous incumbent, David Sharrock, moved back to his previous joint role of chief operating officer and chief financial officer.
Ian Plummer, chairman of WRG, said: “We believe Russ is the right person to lead us onto the next level. He has an enviable track record and brings not just the experience of running an international agency and leading blue chip organisations, but a genuine enthusiasm and ambition to WRG; the sort that will appeal to existing clients and a whole host of new brands and businesses that are looking for gold-standard comms.”
Lidstone said the post is a "dream job" for him, as more brands begin to invest in experiential. He commented: "The work WRG is already doing in this space, as well as its plans to innovate, is breaking down the walls of traditional comms.
“I look forward to helping WRG build strategically innovative, commercially focused and creatively brilliant ideas- bringing together live, creative, content, and digital.”