Brian Lesser, a veteran Madison Avenue operative who has worked in senior media-investment roles on both sides of the table, is returning to WPP‘s large GroupM media firm as its global CEO, one of the most influential roles in guiding how advertisers’ money flows.
Lesser succeeds Christian Juhl, who is stepping down after five years in the role and will take a new position with WPP as president of corporate development.
Lesser takes the helm as some parts of the GroupM operation have come under scrutiny, with a parade of executives cycling through some of the company’s most senior U.S. leadership roles in recent years.
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Lesser recently stepped away from Infosum, an ad-tech firm he helped build, where he had been chairman and CEO. He rejoins WPP after departing to take on the CEO role at AT&T’s advertising and analytics unit that is known as Xandr today and is currently part of Microsoft. Lesser was at the helm of AT&T’s efforts to use its acquisitions of Time Warner and DirecTV to boost its efforts to sell new kinds of advertising tied into consumer data and behaviors.
Lesser first joined WPP with the acquisition of 24/7 Real Media in 2007. He went on to create
the Media Innovation Group, building addressable advertising products and technology for
GroupM, including one of the industry’s first data management platforms. In 2011 he founded
Xaxis, the programmatic media buying platform which now forms part of GroupM’s media
performance organization, GroupM Nexus.
“Brian is one of the industry’s most highly regarded executives with a track record of success
in data- and technology-driven marketing,” said Mark Read, WPP’s CEO, in a statement, adding: “Brian not only knows GroupM inside-out, but also has a strong vision for the future of the business. We are delighted to welcome him back to WPP.”
Juhl became CEO of GroupM in November 2019, having previously held the same
position at Essence, the digital media agency acquired by WPP in 2015. In his new role at WPP, he will work on various aspects of the company’s strategic development.
“WPP and GroupM are special organizations to me. I have experienced first-hand the culture of innovation and collaboration that leads to exceptional work for advertisers,” said Lesser, in a statement. . I am thrilled to be rejoining GroupM as Chief Executive Officer. I look forward to building with my talented colleagues, collaborating with our industry partners, and investing with our fantastic roster of global clients.”
