GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, announced a series of leadership changes to accelerate business growth and further the implementation of the company’s simplified operating model in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
The changes expand the remits of Mindshare, WaveMaker, and EssenceMediacom’s regional agency leaders to include responsibility for critical GroupM-wide functions and capabilities.
In addition to her Mindshare leadership duties in APAC, Helen McRae will oversee GroupM’s growth and business development teams in the region. Helen will work closely with regional leadership and GroupM’s recently appointed Global Chief Growth Officer, Hamish Davies, to ensure teams responding to new business opportunities benefit from shared knowledge, best practices, tools, and processes in all markets and across all GroupM agencies.
Sindhuja Rai, Wavemaker’s Regional Lead for Asia Pacific, will take on the additional responsibility for overseeing GroupM’s client leadership communities in the region. Sindhuja will partner with GroupM and agency leaders throughout APAC, including CEOs Prasanth Kumar (South Asia), Rupert McPetrie (China), Michael Beecroft (North Asia), Himanshu Shekhar (Southeast Asia), Aimee Buchanan (Australia/New Zealand), and Arshan Saha (Singapore), to implement GroupM-wide best practices for client service and experience across all accounts and in all markets.
EssenceMediacom’s Chief Operating Officer for APAC, Josh Gallagher, is promoted to Client President for the agency in the region. In this new role, Josh will oversee GroupM’s client strategy capability and talent communities in the region, applying best practices and implementing cutting edge strategic planning tools and technologies across all agencies and APAC markets. He will also manage EssenceMediacom’s portfolio of clients across APAC, succeeding Rupert McPetrie who was appointed into a new role as CEO for GroupM in China in February.
Announcing the expanded remits for Helen McRae, Sindhuja Rai, and Josh Gallagher, GroupM Global CEO Brian Lesser said, “GroupM’s depth of talent in Asia Pacific is well known, both in the region and around the world. In Helen, Sindhuja, and Josh, we have some of the most outstanding leaders in the industry working to make sure GroupM keeps raising the bar for client service and marketing innovation. I’m excited to see the positive impact I know they will have on the way we leverage our collective intelligence and technology to deliver value for our clients and give our teams every opportunity to collaborate, grow, and win together.”
