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Digital Marketing
Business Fortune
02 July, 2024
According to a press release, GroupM has named Alycia Mason as CEO of its Wavemaker U.S. agency, beginning at the end of July.
With the move to Wavemaker, a media-buying company under WPP's GroupM media conglomerate, Mason goes back to her agency roots. The McDonald's executive helped develop digital skills like app development and delivery services that were very important for fast food restaurants during the epidemic. She improved McDonald's online business when she was the vice president of digital customer experience and media. This made the company more profitable and doubled their return on investment for advertising.
GroupM could benefit from their expertise as they strive to enhance their technological competence in response to growing business demands. The company is reorganizing in North America, shifting away from old models, and investing more in integrated agency solutions and data-driven marketing. This was reported by Ad Age.
Mason's time at McDonald's may have helped her understand customers' needs during difficult times. Chief marketers are under pressure to become experts in different media tactics due to factors like cookie deprecation and the need to link marketing closely to financial outcomes. Mason was referred to as a "change agent" by GroupM North America CEO Farjami when the hiring was announced.
Kirk McDonald was replaced by Farjami as GroupM's chief executive in North America at the beginning of the year. He used to be the former leader of Wavemaker in the area. In addition to appointing a new chief operating officer, Farjami also created GroupM's first chief growth officer position in February.
Mason, who worked at McDonald's for almost six years, has experience in the media agency industry. He has held positions at Publicis' Starcom, Omnicom's OMD, and GroupM's Mindshare. She has previously worked with Kellogg, Kraft, BP, Castrol, JCPenney, and Dell as clients. Mason will work part-time at Wavemaker in New York and Chicago.
GroupM is being reorganized as WPP, its parent company, is facing challenges such as decreased IT spending, a market downturn in places like China, and the loss of important clients. In Q1, the ad-holding group's revenue decreased by 1.4%. For the entire year, it anticipates growth to be either flat or 1%.