Kevin Johnson, CEO of GroupM, has been selected to be WPP’s president in Canada. Johnson brings years of experience to role, having recently worked as the CEO of MediaCom Canada (now EssenceMediacom) for seven years prior to joining the GroupM executive team. He will remain CEO of GroupM as he takes on this new role.
Last year, Media in Canada selected Johnson as the Media Leader of the Year at the Media Innovation Awards. Johnson earned the accolade through his involvement brokering agreements with Canadian publishers to ensure that GroupM commits some of its ad-buyer power to local news outlets. He has also led initiatives that support DEI, asking clients to pledge 5% of their total annual media budgets to companies who own/buy/serve diverse audiences.
One project that was really important to Johnson personally, and gave him a great deal of satisfaction is Launchpad, a program that pays for training for people with diverse backgrounds, providing them with a job right out of the gate. Providing more opportunities is part of the agency’s mission statement of making advertising better for all.
Under Johnson’s leadership, GroupM Canada saw continued growth and expansion in the market with GroupM’s Government Practice specializing in delivering excellence for public sector clients, the launch of GroupM Sports & Live powering multi-platform sports marketing programs, their Data & tech Google consultancy, Acceleration and extension of the global GroupM Motion Entertainment content creation and distribution business into the Canadian market.
With more than 25 years of industry experience, Johnson serves as an active Board member for organizations including Ad Standards, Numeris, and Trillium Health Partners, among others.
Johnson will be taking over the position from Arthur Fleischmann, who has been president since 2021. Fleischmann will also step away from his role as Group CEO of Ogilvy Canada
“I want to thank Arthur for his exceptional leadership and commitment to WPP over the last few years – we wish him the best,” said Mark Read, CEO of WPP. “Canada is a very important market for WPP, and one of our top ten worldwide. Kevin’s appointment reflects our continued commitment to strong leadership and growth in this dynamic country.”
MiC has reached out to Johnson for comment, and will update this story as it evolves.
With files from Patti Summerfield.
