MUMBAI: The Interpublic Group of Companies has hired Nick Brien as chief executive officer and president of Universal McCann.
Brien comes to Interpublic after a long career at Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett and Starcom, where he played key roles in shaping and leading those companies' media, advertising and integrated marketing offerings.
Brien will be based in New York and will report to Interpublic's media operations chairman and CEO Mark Rosenthal.
Murray Dudgeon, who had taken on the CEO role at Universal McCann on an interim basis, will remain with the company in his role as chief operating officer.
"Nick Brien is more than just a top-tier international media executive. He brings a unique breadth of experience, having also led an ad agency and a multi-disciplinary marketing services firm. He's known as a passionate client partner who understands the big picture and the growing need to build brands with fully-integrated media solutions. His extensive experience in the media and marketing arena, as well as his strategic and operational skills, will be a major asset. He'll be an incredible partner for me and a great collaborator with John Dooner and the leadership of McCann Worldgroup," said Rosenthal.
"Nick is a terrific talent and a dynamic executive. He is absolutely the right person to lead Universal McCann forward as part of the next generation media offering Mark Rosenthal is creating. Plus with his unique background encompassing both media and marketing communications, he provides Universal McCann with the ideal complementary link to Worldgroup's full set of capabilities," said McCann Worldgroup chairman and CEO John Dooner.
Brien has more than two decades of experience in the industry. Since February of 2004, he served as CEO of Arc Worldwide, the main umbrella marketing services brand of Publicis Groupe. Arc Worldwide is the global combination of four entities: Arc Marketing, Frankel, iLeo and Semaphore Partners. Under Brien's leadership, Arc Worldwide won significant new business, as well as top creative recognition in major industry competitions.
Prior to his role at Arc, Brien was president of corporate business development for Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG). Before joining SMG, Brien was CEO of Leo Burnett London, where he expanded the agency's integrated marketing offerings and significantly raised creative standards. He first joined Leo Burnett London in 1992 as media director. He began his career at Grey London.
