Joe Celia and Tim Mellors Elevated to Newly Created Roles as Vice Chairmen
NEW YORK, Dec. 14 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Grey Global Group, a WPP company
and the parent company of Grey Worldwide and G2, today announced that James
R. Heekin III will become Chairman and Chief Executive Officer on January 1,
2007 as Grey begins its 90th year. He succeeds Edward H. Meyer who retires
in December, culminating a storied 50-year career at Grey, including more
than three decades as CEO.
(Photos: http://xprnnews.xfn.info/grey/20061213/meyer.htm
http://xprnnews.xfn.info/grey/20061213/heekin.htm )
Grey Global Group ranks among the world's top marketing organizations,
serves one-fifth of the FORTUNE 500, and operates 110 offices in 88 countries
with 10,000 employees. Its multidisciplinary offer focuses on operating
companies such as Grey Worldwide, G2, WINGLATINO and Alliance and includes
sister companies such as Grey Healthcare Group, GCI Group and MediaCom.
Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, said, "Jim Heekin will be focusing on raising
Grey's creative standards even further with the help of Tim Mellors and on
its integrated offer, particularly in the area of internet, interactive and
digital with Joe Celia. Through WPP, Jim and Joe will further enhance Grey
Global's capabilities and resources, not only in the mature markets of the US
and Western Europe, but in the faster-growing markets of Asia Pacific, Latin
America, Africa and the Middle East and Central and Eastern Europe. I also
want to thank Ed Meyer for the selfless way he has supervised such a smooth
succession transition and on his remarkable career as a leader in our
industry."
Jim Heekin, who has served as Chairman and CEO of Grey Worldwide since
September 2005, a role he will continue in, said, "Taking the reins of Grey
Global Group is a highpoint in my professional life and I am extremely
enthused about our future. This company possesses immense talent, world-
class clients and stunning marketing success stories in every medium.
"Over the past year, we have been very busy launching a dynamic new
platform for the future with bold initiatives designed to sharpen our
competitive edge in creativity, total communications, strategic planning and
business development. The stage is set for the 'new' Grey to prosper."
New Leadership Structure
Jim Heekin also announced a new senior management structure for Grey
Global Group, which is consistent with his vision of placing creativity and
total communications at the very top of the company.
Two newly created positions of vice chairman will report to Heekin.
Joe Celia will become Vice Chairman, Grey Global Group. He will oversee
Grey Global Group's mandate to deliver a powerful total communications
offering and lead the network's strategic development via acquisitions and
joint ventures in emerging markets and new media channels. He will continue
in his role as Chairman and CEO of G2, Grey's leading global network of
specialized communications companies.
Tim Mellors will become Vice Chairman, Chief Creative Officer. He will
be responsible for Grey's creative product globally, and across all business
lines, underscoring the critical importance the company places on superlative
creativity working in concert across all communications channels. He has
served as President and Chief Creative Officer of Grey Worldwide North
America since 2004.
Jim Heekin said, "Joe Celia has done an outstanding job of developing the
G2 organization into a best-in-class global network for delivering
multidisciplinary brand communications for our clients in a more creative,
responsive, targeted and measurable way. His appointment underscores our
determination to advance Grey's leadership position in the new communications
landscape.
"Grey's creative credentials are on the rise thanks to Tim Mellors. He
has leveraged our talent to produce memorable, effective, award-winning
advertising and content that bonds buyers to brands. He will harness the
power of our global organization to make Grey a destination for outstanding
creative ideas and creative people.
"Both Joe and Tim will be terrific partners to me. They share the vast
sense of potential that I believe lies at the heart of Grey," Heekin
concluded.
The "New" Grey
In 2006, the senior management of the company, led by Jim Heekin, laid
out a vision and blueprint for the "new" Grey:
-- Grey committed itself to best-in-class creativity. The company has
doubled its total creative award performance in the past two years
and won: 10 Cannes Lions; "Agency of the Year" at the European
Effies; Addy "Best of Show" for Nokia, Clio for Frontier Airlines,
Emmy for Dairy Queen in North America; moving up four places in the
Gunn Report, all in 2006.
-- Grey elevated its game in the total communications space by aligning
all of its specialized communications under the G2 brand, creating a
seamless, global organization that unified the company's pacesetter
communications holdings in direct marketing, branding and design,
new media, promotional, trade and shopper marketing. The network
has 86 offices in 42 countries. This new architecture pairs the
branding prowess of Grey Worldwide with the activation marketing
expertise of G2 to deliver superior brand communications across all
marketing channels.
-- Grey rededicated itself to strategic planning leadership as a
cornerstone of its offering. The agency that invented
"psychographics" and published Grey Matter, Madison Avenue's bible
of provocative trends, set out to reclaim its pre-eminence in thought
leadership. Nat Puccio and Suresh Nair, two of the most renowned
leaders in consumer insights, joined Grey from McCann. They
unveiled a new global planning model, Grey Brand Acceleration, to
drive the creation of transformative ideas that accelerate clients'
brand performance. All disciplines use its common strategic tools
and common language to create brand communications across channels.
-- Grey focused on incremental growth from existing clients and new
assignments. Completing its first year as a WPP agency in March
2006, Grey grew the business of 18 out of its top 20 global clients.
The agency's vitality is evident in the new assignments it received
from Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, BAT, Darden Restaurants,
Novartis, Diageo, Nokia and Volkswagen around the world. New
clients/brands won include: Lehman Brothers, Manpower, Max Factor,
Symantec, SanDisk, Morgan Stanley, China Mobile and Wyeth's Dimetapp.
Edward H. Meyer: An Advertising Titan
Edward H. Meyer's retirement marks the culmination of one of the most
spectacular careers in American advertising. He built Grey from a mid-sized
U.S. agency into a global marketing communications powerhouse. An iconic
account man, entrepreneur and marketing strategist, he became a sought after
counselor in FORTUNE 500 boardrooms from Procter & Gamble to BAT.
Under his leadership, Grey's revenues soared by a factor of over 40
times, from $29.5 million in 1970, the year he became CEO, to $1.3 billion in
2003. FORTUNE magazine called Grey a "super agency" nearly two decades ago
in recognition of its pioneering development of resources across the total
spectrum of marketing channels.
In addition to his membership on numerous public company boards, he has
been a mainstay of New York philanthropy, serving as a trustee of the
Guggenheim Museum, New York University Medical Center and on the board of the
Film Society of Lincoln Center.
Ed Meyer said, "I am very proud of the success Grey has achieved because
of our passion for building our clients' brands and businesses. It has been
my pleasure to work with many of the most talented people in our industry. I
have the highest personal regard for Jim Heekin, have long respected his
business achievements and have enjoyed our collaboration. Grey's best days
lie ahead in the very capable hands of its new management team."
Grey Global Group ranks among the largest global communications companies
in the world. Its parent company is WPP (Nasdaq: WPPGY). Grey Global Group
operates branded independent business units in many communications
disciplines including general advertising, public relations/public affairs,
healthcare marketing, brand development, relationship marketing, sales
promotion, interactive marketing, entertainment and Hispanic communications.
Grey's blue-chip client roster includes many of the world's best known
companies: Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Nokia, BAT, Diageo, Volkswagen,
Novartis, Wyeth, Canon and 3M.
