One of the world’s largest brand communications groups formed a new global management team this week. Starcom MediaVest Group CEO Laura Desmond, whose leadership style has been marked by accelerated change since she joined SMG three months ago, said the new team will drive growth, business development, product and talent across the network.
Joining SMG president of global operations Andrew Swinand and newly minted chief digital officer Sean Finnegan are 10 executive leaders chosen from throughout the organization.
‘Our reinvention requires a strategic infrastructure of the right people in the right places,’ says Desmond. ‘This team will leverage client relationships, unify our face to market and elevate our offering in every market where we do business.’
The new SMG global leadership team includes Marston Allen, global director of business development and marketing, who was recently director of new business at MediaVest in New York; New York-based Bernard Bedon, PhD, global director, talent and innovation, who was most recently global chief talent officer for Publicis Groupe Media; and London-based Matt Blackborn, global director, technology accounts, who led SMG’s Middle Eastern network in 2005 and 2006. Sasa Savic, global director of P&G, will also be joining SMG’s team. In the past two years he has led the P&G relationship across the network. Kate Sirkin, EVP/director of SMG’s global research, has led its global research initiatives since 2003 and joined SMG by way of Leo Burnett London in 1988.
SMG’s integrated network currently includes nearly 5,300 contact architects specializing in media management, Internet and digital communications, performance media, entertainment marketing, sports sponsorships, event marketing and multicultural media. A subsidiary of Paris-based Publicis Groupe, SMG’s network includes 100 offices in 67 countries.
